Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 八咫鏡. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 八咫鏡, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 八咫鏡 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 八咫鏡 you have here. The definition of the word 八咫鏡 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of八咫鏡, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
八咫鏡: Artist's impressions of the (unseen) Imperial Regalia of Japan, with Yata no Kagami on the upper right
Etymology
Phrase consisting of 八(ya, “eight”) + 咫(ata, an ancient unit of circumference) + の(no, possessive particle) + 鏡(kagami, “mirror”).[1]
The name is a description of the mirror's size. A circle with a diameter of one 尺(shaku, ancient foot, unit of length) would have a circumference of four ata. A circumference of eight ata would thus mean a mirror with a diameter of two shaku. The shaku at that time was roughly 23 centimeters, so the mirror would have been roughly 46 centimeters across.
The ata of that time period was around 18 centimeters or 7.25 inches, so note that the hand in the English name is not the same as the four-inch unit of measurement.
