Standard Lemma guide

katana

name · noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /kəˈtɑnə/
  • US: [kɪ̈ˈthɑnə]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA2 T AA1 N AA2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A type of Japanese longsword, having a single edge and slight curvature, historically used by samurai and ninja.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: engineering, government, military, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, politics, tools, war, weaponry

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 刀 (katana, “single-edged sword”).

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 日本刀 (Rìběndāo) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Chinese Mandarin: 武士刀 (wǔshìdāo) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Finnish: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • French: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • German: Katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Hebrew: קטאנה (kataná) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Ido: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Japanese: 刀 (katana) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Japanese: 日本刀 (Nihontō) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Korean: 가타나 (gatana) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Marathi: काताना (kātānā) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Polish: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Portuguese: catana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Russian: ката́на (katána) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Sanskrit: कतन (katana) — type of Japanese longsword
  • Serbo-Croatian: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Spanish: catana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Spanish: catán — type of Japanese longsword
  • Spanish: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Swahili: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Swedish: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Tagalog: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Vietnamese: katana — type of Japanese longsword
  • Vietnamese: ca-ta-na — type of Japanese longsword
Real reading context

katana in complete knowledge articles