noun
Dated honorific term for a woman, especially an older or respected one. Also used as a title after a name, like 〜刀自.
昔の文書には「田中刀自」のような敬称が見られる。
In old documents, you can see honorific titles like 'Tanaka-toji'.
noun
mistress of a household; housewife
Archaic term for the female head of a household or a housewife. Not used in modern everyday language.
刀自は家の切り盛りに忙しかった。
The mistress of the house was busy managing the household.
The kanji 刀自 are ateji (phonetic) for the reading とじ. The exact origin of the word is uncertain, but it has been used historically as a respectful term for women.