打うち首くび

う

ち

く

び

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

decapitation; beheading

Refers to the act of cutting off someone's head, especially as a form of execution in historical contexts.

江え戸ど時じ代だいには、打うち首くびが刑けい罰ばつの一ひとつだった。
In the Edo period, decapitation was one of the punishments.

Kanji

打strike, hit, knock
首neck, counter for songs and poems
討chastise, attack, defeat

Related words

斬ざん
打ち首 is the colloquial historical term for execution by beheading, whereas 斬 is a terser, more literary word for the same act.
斬ざん首しゅ
打ち首 is the traditional Japanese term for execution by beheading, especially in the context of Edo-period punishment, while 斬首 is a more general, Sino-Japanese term used across historical and modern contexts.

Word family

打うち首くび獄ごく門もん
beheading and head display

Built from

打うつ+首くび

Written forms

打うち首くびUsage75%
Standard kanji spelling.
打うち首くびUsage18%
Variant spelling without okurigana.
討首うちくびUsage7%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Etymology

Compound of 打ち (uchi, 'striking') + 首 (kubi, 'neck'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term straightforwardly refers to striking the neck to sever the head.