also: やつこらま · つぶね
noun
slave; servant; retainer; captive
Only with reading やつこ / つぶね
Archaic term for a person in servitude, including slaves, retainers, and captives. Sense 1 is explicitly archaic; senses 2 and 3 are historical but not marked archaic.
古の世には、やつこは主に仕える身分であった。
In ancient times, a yatsuko was a person who served a master.
戦に敗れ、多くの者がやつことなった。
Defeated in battle, many became captives.
noun
varlet; wretch
Only with reading やつこ
Derogatory archaic term for a lowly or contemptible person.
「このやつこめが」と、殿は怒りをあらわにした。
'You varlet!' the lord exclaimed in anger.
pronoun
Only with reading やつこ / やつこらま
Humble first-person pronoun used in archaic Japanese, often by servants or low-ranking individuals when addressing superiors.
やつこは、ただ仰せのままに。
I will do as you command.
Archaic kanji spelling for the reading やつこらま, a humble first-person pronoun.
Kana spelling for the reading やつこらま, useful for search but not a common modern written form.
The exact derivation is uncertain. やつこ likely originated as a compound of やつ (person) and こ (diminutive suffix), implying a lowly person. The reading つぶね is rare and its origin is unclear.