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jmdict 1369890 Active (id: 2224536)
刃物 [news1,nf11]
はもの [news1,nf11]
1. [n]
▶ edged tool
▶ cutting instrument
▶ knife



History:
6. A 2023-03-13 00:13:39  Jim Breen <...address hidden...>
5. A* 2023-03-12 23:54:50  Robin Scott <...address hidden...>
  Refs:
gg5
  Comments:
News organisations use this word when reporting on a stabbing or someone brandishing a knife. I think "knife" should be a gloss.
  Diff:
@@ -16 +15,0 @@
-<gloss>cutting instrument (knife, dagger, etc.)</gloss>
@@ -17,0 +17,2 @@
+<gloss>cutting instrument</gloss>
+<gloss>knife</gloss>
4. A 2023-03-12 07:29:52  Jim Breen <...address hidden...>
  Comments:
Probably best just to drop cutlery.
  Diff:
@@ -16 +15,0 @@
-<xref type="see" seq="2140880">カトラリー</xref>
@@ -19 +17,0 @@
-<gloss>cutlery(only in ref. to knives)</gloss>
3. A* 2023-03-12 07:05:10  Brian Krznarich <...address hidden...>
  Refs:
Between jisho.org's last snapshot(quite dated) and now, "Japanese Cutlery" was renamed to "Japanese Kitchen Knife".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_kitchen_knife
  Comments:
This is not about the meaning of the Japanese word. This is about the E->J direction, and the English word "cutlery", which 50 years ago in the U.S. broadly meant "kitchen knives", and no longer does. (and perhaps never did in Britain).

If you search "cutlery", you get two results:
1.  This term 刃物, and "cutlery" with a big green sign (on jisho.org anyway) that says "common, use me, you can't go wrong here".
2. Then, among a bunch of rare katakana terms, you see カトラリー, not distinguished in any way.

Which to pick?  I gave reverso examples of people doing this wrong.  I did this wrong. 

In English, the etymology of "cutlery" has "cut" and likely referred to knives. So, shouldn't it be reasonable to think that 刃物 could have also undergone such a transformation and now apply to other metal implements (or even plastic tableware by extension)?

I think this is an unnecessary source of errors when a few words could be added to sort this out.  I don't know what those words would be, or the best way to insert them, but it seems like something could be done.

As long as "cutlery" is in the gloss ( which is fine ), I think the [xref] is critical, because 刃物 is the *wrong* word (E->J) for cutlery in many modern use cases.

If you're Japanese, incidentally, "cutlery" is probably a poor choice today for 刃物 for all the reasons above.
  Diff:
@@ -15,0 +16 @@
+<xref type="see" seq="2140880">カトラリー</xref>
@@ -18 +19 @@
-<gloss>cutlery</gloss>
+<gloss>cutlery(only in ref. to knives)</gloss>
2. A 2023-03-12 04:20:40  Jim Breen <...address hidden...>
  Refs:
Daijr: 物を切断したり削ったりする,刃のついている道具。包丁・刀など。
GG5: 	a 「cutting [sharp] instrument [tool]; a knife; a dagger; a cutter; 〈集合的に〉 cutlery.
  Comments:
The references all have one sense (samples given). I think that's sufficient.
  Diff:
@@ -16,11 +16,2 @@
-<gloss>knife</gloss>
-<gloss>(object with a short) blade</gloss>
-</sense>
-<sense>
-<pos>&n;</pos>
-<gloss>edged tool (esp. knives, also chisels, scissors, etc.)</gloss>
-</sense>
-<sense>
-<pos>&n;</pos>
-<xref type="see" seq="2140880">カトラリー</xref>
-<s_inf>caution: 刃物 refers exclusively to knives, while "cutlery" may also refer to spoons, forks, and even plastic tableware</s_inf>
+<gloss>cutting instrument (knife, dagger, etc.)</gloss>
+<gloss>edged tool</gloss>
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