Uchigatana

Japanese: 打刀 - うちがたな

〘Noun〙 A type of sword worn at the waist with the blade facing up. A sword intended for striking and slashing at opponents. In contrast to the short-blade waist sword, this sword was made long and large, and was used exclusively with a tsuba (guard guard) . Tsubagatana (guard sword) . [Engishiki (927)] *Heike (early 13th century) 4 "They wore a belly warmer under their robes and a large uchigatana apron" [Etymology] (1) In the Middle Ages, as the length of swords diversified according to their uses, this word was created to distinguish them from the short, tsuba-less sword " koshigatana" and the even shorter "fukogogatana " (guard sword) .
(2) From the Middle Ages onwards, it was used in conjunction with the wakizashi , and in the early modern period, the word katana came to refer simply to the utachi.

Source: The Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary About the Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary Information

Japanese:

〘名〙刃を上にして腰にさした刀の一種。相手に打ち当てて斬ることを目的とした刀。刃渡りの短い腰刀に対して、長大に仕立て、もっぱら鍔(つば)をかけて用いた。鍔刀(つばがたな)。〔延喜式（927）〕※平家（１３Ｃ前）四「衣のしたに腹巻を着、大なるうちがたな前垂にさし」[語誌](1)中古、刀の長さがその用途によって分化していくに従って、短めで鍔のない刀である「腰刀(こしがたな)」や、それより更に短い「懐刀(ふところがたな)」などと区別するために生じた語。
(2)中世以降は、「脇差(わきざし)」と対になって使用され、近世に入ってからは、単に刀といえば「打刀」をさすようになっていく。

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