脇差

Japanese

Kanji in this term
脇	差
わき Grade: S	さ(し) > ざ(し) Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of 脇 (waki, “armpit, side of the torso”) +‎ 差 (sashi, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 差す sasu “to insert, to stick into”), from the way the wakizashi would be stuck at one's side through the 帯 (obi, “belt or sash”).^[1] The sashi changes to zashi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) わきざし [wàkízáshí] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [β̞a̠kʲiza̠ɕi]

Noun

脇(わき)差(ざし) • (wakizashi)

(weaponry) wakizashi (a traditional Japanese shortsword, traditionally 30cm to 60cm in length, often used as a secondary weapon to a katana)

Coordinate terms

刀(かたな) (katana): traditional Japanese single-bladed curved sword
短刀(たんとう) (tantō): traditional Japanese shortsword or dagger (30cm and shorter)
大小(だいしょう) (daishō): “big and small”: the katana and wakizashi as a set

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]