Chinese

Verb

鍛冶

1. to forge and smelt (metal)
2. (figuratively) to steel oneself or to measure one's words

Japanese

Etymology 1

/kanauchi/ → /kanuchi/

From Old Japanese. Contraction of older compound 金 ‎(kana) +‎ 打ち ‎(uchi, “striking, striker”, the 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 打つ utsu, “to hit, to strike”) .

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [kã̠nɯᵝt͡ɕi]

Noun

鍛冶 ‎(hiragana かぬち, romaji kanuchi)

1. smithing
2. a metalsmith, a smith
3. short for 鍛冶司 (​kanuchizukasa), the official imperial court metalsmith or overseer of metalsmiths in the Ritsuryō system of ancient Japan

Synonyms

• (smith): 鍛冶屋 (かじや) ‎(kajiya)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

/kanuchi/ → /kanji/ → /kaji/

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) か​じ [káꜜjì] (Atamadaka - [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠d͡ʑi]

Noun

鍛冶 ‎(hiragana かじ, romaji kaji, historical hiragana かぢ)

1. smithing
2. a metalsmith, a smith
3. short for 鍛冶の司 (​kaji no tsukasa), the official imperial court metalsmith or overseer of metalsmiths in the Ritsuryō system of ancient Japan.

Synonyms

• (smith): 鍛冶屋 (かじや) ‎(kajiya)

Derived terms

Idioms

• 鍛冶の明日に紺屋の明後日 (かじのあしたにこんやのあさって, ​kaji no ashita ni kon'ya no asatte): "a smith's tomorrow, but a dyer's day after tomorrow": a metaphor for someone who makes promises easily but always breaks them

Etymology 3

From Middle Chinese 鍛冶 ‎(/tuɑn ja/, literally “to forge + to fuse (metals)”). Compare modern Mandarin 锻冶 ‎(duànyě).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• IPA^(key): [tã̠ɴ.ja̠]

Noun

鍛冶 ‎(hiragana たんや, romaji tan'ya)

1. smithing
2. a metalsmith, a smith

See also

• 鍛冶 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Blacksmithing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia