What does the kanji 刀 mean?

The kanji 刀 (katana) means "sword, saber, knife". It is a JLPT N5 character.

What kanji is "katana"?

"katana" is written with the kanji 刀, meaning "sword, saber, knife". Its readings are onyomi (Chinese-derived) とう (tō), kunyomi (native Japanese) かたな (katana). It is a JLPT N5 character.

How do you write the kanji 刀?

Write 刀 ("sword") by following the correct stroke order. Use the interactive, step-by-step stroke order animation on this page to practise each stroke in sequence and build muscle memory.

What are the readings of 刀?

刀 has these readings: onyomi (Chinese-derived) とう (tō), kunyomi (native Japanese) かたな (katana).

刀“sword” Kanjikatana / tō

JLPT N5

How to write 刀

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Meaning and readings

Meaning

sword, saber, knife

Onyomi (音読み)

とう tō

Chinese reading

Kunyomi (訓読み)

かたな katana

Japanese reading

Practice 刀 on paper — a printable tracing grid with stroke order

Or get all 82 N5 sheets as one free PDF (downloads to your device)

Example sentences using 刀

Human-reviewed sentence pairs from the Tatoeba corpus, with readings shown above the kanji.

二人ふたりの刀かたながガチッと切きりあった。
Their swords clashed.
刀 (かたな)
JP#123083— no individual contributor (Tanaka Corpus import)EN#280917byCKCC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project
俺おれの刀かたなはどこだ？
Where's my sword?
刀 (かたな)
JP#11058413bysmall_snowEN#7488958byRicardo14CC BY 2.0 FR Tatoeba Project