打ち首

• 読み: うちくび
• ローマ字: uchikubi
• 漢字の分解: 打 (da/u) — strike, hit; 首 (shū/kubi) — neck, head
• 発音: /ɯ.tɕi.kɯ.bi/

意味

Beheading; decapitation; capital punishment by decapitation. A method of execution historically used in Japan.

Composed of 打ち (to strike/cut) and 首 (head/neck). A term associated primarily with Edo-period justice, when beheading was the severest form of execution reserved for the most serious crimes. The compound 打ち首獄門 added public display of the severed head as an additional punishment. In modern usage it appears mainly in historical dramas and literature. Occasional colloquial use to mean 'to be fired' is rare and archaic.

例文

1. 江戸時代には、重大な罪を犯した者は打ち首の刑に処せられることが多かった。
2. 歴史小説の中で、謀反を企てた武士が打ち首になる場面は緊張感に満ちていた。
3. 打ち首獄門とは、首をさらし台にかける最も重い刑罰を指す言葉だった。

使い方ガイド

場面: history, law, literature, historical drama

トーン: serious

起源と歴史

打ち (uchi, strike/cut, from the verb 打つ) + 首 (kubi, neck/head). A compound describing the act of severing the head, used in legal and historical contexts from the medieval period onwards.

文化的背景

時代: Medieval–Edo

世代: Adults

社会的背景: General