This is a glossary of kitchen knife related terms. It is intended to help newer members of the xyjknife.com follow along with the discussions. There are many terms used here that don't connotate their standard definitions, or overlap from other industries and hobbies. It is not by any means an exhaustive list of every specific term used on this forum, especially culinary, Japanese, and metallurgical terms, because those definitions are easily found elsewhere, or are beyond the scope of this site(xyjknife.com has a great list of Japanese cutlery terms, several knife types, and  western knife types.)

So if you find yourself wondering what a word means, look it up here! If it's not here, it might be a brand name, or it might still need to be put here.


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K(as in 1k, 2k, 15k) – 'Thousand Grit'; so a “1k stone” is “1,000 Grit Stone”

ABS – American Bladesmith Society
AS – Aogami Super
BBW – Belgian Blue Whetstone
BS – Bladesmith, or Blue Steel
BC – Boron Carbide
BOH – Back of House
BWJ – Blue Way Japan
CKTG – Chef Knives To Go
CrO – Chromium Oxide
CS – Culinary School
DT – Devin Thomas
ECG – East Coast Gathering
EE – Epicurean Edge
EP – Edge Pro
FF – Fit and Finish
FFG – Full Flat Grind
FOH – Front of House
GAW – Giveaway
GS – GlassStone
HA – Hand American
HAD – Hone Acquisition Disorder
HF – Harbor Freight and Tool
HHT – Hanging Hair Test
HRC – Rockwell Hardness 'C'
HT – Heat Treat
JCK – Japanese Chefs Knife
JKI – Japanese Knife Imports
JKS – Japanese Knife Sharpening
Jnat – Japanese Natural Stone
JWW – Japan Wood Worker
KAD – Knife Acquisition Disorder
KKF – Kitchen Knife Forums
KU – Kuro-Uchi
LV – Lee Valley Tool
MC – Murray Carter
MCD – Monocrystalline Diamond
MS – ABS Master Smith
OOTB – Out of the Box
PCD – Polycrystalline Diamond
PM – Private Message
QC – Quality Control
SLT – Sur La Table
URH – Ultra Rock Hard
WE – Wicked Edge
WIP – Work In Progress
WS – Either White Steel, or William-Sonoma


3 Finger Test – An edge test(highly promoted by Murray Carter), in which the index, middle, and ring fingers of one hand are placed, pads first, perpendicular to the cutting edge and, with slight pressure, rubbed across the edge in short bursts. This test requires lots of practice to provide great insight. It works by alerting the body's response to the sensation of the edge biting into the first few layers of skin, and has been reported to fail to distinguish between dull edges, and sharp ones that are highly polished. Cut fingers are almost guaranteed during the relatively long learning curve for this test. It is not advisable for anyone to try to teach themselves this test without the aid of a teacher or DVD.

Accordion – A piece of vegetable that has been chopped, but left stuck together by a small section of food that went uncut along the bottom. This is almost always undesirable, and often frustrating. It can be prevented by repairing a damaged edge or using proper cutting techniques that compliment the way the knife was designed to be used.

Aggressive – The quality of cutting steel quickly and with little effort

Arkansas Stone – A naturally occurring, dense stone that hails from Arkansas state, which can be lubricated with pretty much anything—water, oil, even some detergents. They are not very aggressive, and they don't have varying abrasive particle sizes. The finer Arkansas Stones are distinguished by greater density, rather than smaller particles. Due to their slow cutting speed, they are often overlooked for harder knives, because it prolongs the sharpening process.

Back of House – The areas of a restaurant customers are not allowed to be in, usually the kitchen.

Back Bevel – The bevel that is behind(closer to the spine than) the cutting edge. Should not be used to denote a bevel on the backside of a single bevel blade.

Bar Stock – Purified steel sold in rectangular shape, sometimes very thick(which is usually used by Bladesmiths to be forged into a knife), or thin(either to layer into a Damascus bar, or cut and ground directly into a knife through stock removal).

Behind the Edge – the portion of a blade just above(closer to the spine than) the primary edge.

Belgian Blue – See Coticule

Belly – The amount of curvature of the edge between the heel and tip. A large, continuous sweep terminating at a high tip would be considered a “lot of belly”, and a knife whose heel and tip touch the cutting board at the same time is a knife with no belly. More belly is generally better for the rocking motion style of cutting.

Bevel – Any flat plane on a knife. Typically, this refers to the portion of a blade that gets abraded in sharpening. Edges are made up of any number of bevels, but typically 1-4. A single Convex bevel is considered one bevel, though it is made up of many gradual angles. The face is not considered a bevel.

Billet – Another term for Bar Stock

Blade Geometry – The shape of the blade itself, as taken in a cross section from spine to edge. This is often cited as one of the most important and subtle characteristics of a knife. Also see Edge Geometry

Blade Road – The area of a Kata-Ha knife that leads up to the edge bevels. Contains core steel, which is hard and cladding steel, which is soft. Having the softer steel exposed on the blade road makes sharpening less time consuming, as it is easier to work.

Bladesmith – A person who makes knives by forging pieces of purified steel, hammering to shape, grinding, heat treating, and finishing them. A person who does not forge their knives is not a Bladesmith, and a Bladesmith is not the same thing as a Blacksmith. The American Bladesmith Society conducts periodic tests for enterprising Bladesmiths, attaining the rank of “Journeyman” and then “Master” Smith. ABS Master Smith testing, while not required for anything other than the recognition, is a rigorous test of a person's talent and ability at manipulating steel.

Burl – A tree deformation that results in the grain becoming warped, scattered, or twisted. Prized for handles because of the exotic visual appeal.

Burr – A raised edge or small piece of steel remaining attached to the blade after grinding or sharpening. This is a natural byproduct of the sharpening process. Just like modeling clay being formed into peaks by hand will develop uneven, super thin portions the size of your fingers, steel will form the same peaks of weak material the size of the particles being used to abrade it. The solution is to either deburr the edge, or wear it down through a rigorous process of refinement.

Carbon Steel – A steel with less than 13% Chromium. That is all this term implies. It does NOT imply that is is harder, more durable, sharper or otherwise superior. It also does not mean that it needs to be treated like a newborn to keep it from rusting. Basic knife safety and hygiene is enough to prevent rusting and corrosion. A patina can also go a long way to keeping reactivity low. All steel contains Carbon(in addition to Iron, and others), but only steel with less than 13% Chromium is called “Carbon Steel”.

Cell Rot – Short for “Celluloid Rot”, a condition caused by steel(especially carbon steel) being stored for long periods of time in plastic. Over time, the plastic releases gases that react poorly with the steel, causing deep, severe rust pitting and corrosion.

Charge – See Loading

Chasing the Burr – Sharpening on alternate sides of the blade until you can feel or otherwise detect the burr on one side, then abrading it, until it flips to the other side. The goal is to weaken the burr(s) like a tab on a soda can, so that it will eventually pop off when deburring. Chasing the burr is not necessary if you are handling burrs and wire edges through careful and complete refinement. 

Chop – An informal term for a direct push-cutting technique, in which the blade is lifted, and dropped straight down on to the food. This causes abuse from the cutting board because the edge is being smacked into the board over and over. End grain cutting boards are the most gentle on a blade, and are sometimes called “chopping blocks”.

Clad Construction – A blade design in which a harder steel is “sandwiched” between two pieces of softer steel. This allows for many benefits. It makes sharpening easier on kata-ha knives, because the soft steel is easier to abrade than the harder core steel. It also can save reduce cost by only using the high quality, hard steel for the part that actually does the cutting. Softer steel tends to be less brittle, so it reduces the chance that impact will shatter or crack the knife. Some makers use carbon steel for the core and stainless for the cladding, in an effort to give their knives “the best of both worlds”--the edge characteristics of carbon steel, and the overall maintenance of stainless—the edge itself, however will still rust and patina as normal.

Clad Line – the visible line where 2 types of steel meet that were clad together. Not to be confused with a temper line or hamon. 

Cladding – The soft steel used to cover a harder, inner core steel on a blade. Also called jigane.

Claw – A hand safety technique used when cutting. The hand used for holding the food is held in a shape like it is holding a ball, and the food is held with the fingertips, and the knuckles are bent slightly and placed against the face of the blade. Food is pushed through the claw by the thumb. A technique of choice for professionals, because they can’t afford to lose their fingers.

Combo Stone – A sharpening Stone that has a low grit on one side, and a higher grit on the other, like having 2 thinner stones in one package. There are a few rare coticule stones that formed in the Earth against layers of different stone, and were cut precisely to create a natural combo stone. These are very rare and not being quarried anymore. 99.9% of combo stones are synthetic.

Compound – an abrasive that has been combined with a substance that aids in distribution over a strop. Can be a spray, liquid, cream, paste, wax, etc.

[aname=convex]Convex – Literally, 'bulging outward'. Refers to the shape of a grind that is slightly rounded. A convex edge bevel, done properly, is just as effective as any other, and a slight amount of convexing is considered helpful on the faces to help release food and prevent sticking and wedging.

Core Steel – The steel in the center of the “sandwich” of a clad blade. Often much harder than the cladding. Also called hagane.

Coticule – A natural stone from Europe, prized by the straight-razor community. While less hard than Arkansas Stones, they are not as aggressive as Japanese Natural stones. They are not commonly used for kitchen knives, because it allows a straight razor to get a smooth, nuanced edge, that will cut hair and not skin, and this edge is rarely desired for kitchen knives.

Custom – A very general term for a knife that is designed to suit a person's particular tastes. Could be the customer's taste, and it could be the maker's.

Cutler – A useful, but oddly scarce term for a person who makes or otherwise supplies knives, straight razors, scissors, axes, or other edged implements.

Cutting Edge – The part of the knife that actually cuts the food, the point created where 2 planes come together to form a peak. Edge grinds can be complex, with 2 or more bevels; this term refers to the bevel that contacts the food and board first.

Cutting Motion – The technique being used to operate the knife. Commonly used motions are the Push-Cut, Rock , Slice, Draw, Chop, and Walk.

Damascus – A catch-all term for patterned steel. It can be stainless or carbon steel, and made from many different types of steel, and is not always a sign of quality. This a complex subject, and involves many overlapping terms. 'Damascus Steel' was a famous sword material from hundreds of years ago, hailing from modern day Syria. It was a high carbon steel, tempered at low temperatures many times, and developed carbide structures that looked like wavy lines—this was an art that was lost for a long time, and is not used today in kitchen knives. Different types of steel can be blended together, resulting in a (somewhat) similar pattern, and this is what is often called “Damascus” steel. True Damascus steel is very interesting to look at, and a real testament to a Bladesmith's talent and patience, but it does not provide enhanced performance beyond the individual qualities of the the steels it contains. The pattern is brought out through etching in acid, and will fade over time(requiring re-etching), despite the fact that it is a pattern IN the steel, not just on the surface. There are many, many different ways to create these patterns.