kata

/ˈkætə/

kata noun: any of a sequence of positions and movements used in many martial arts. Also the ellipsis of kata thermometer.

Noun (1)

kata (plural katas or kata)

Any of a sequence of positions and movements used in many martial arts.
- judo kata
- About fifty kata, or "formal exercises," are practiced at the present time, some having been passed down from generation to generation, others having been developed fairly recently.1979, Masatoshi Nakayama, Best Karate: Heian, Tekki, page 12
(broadly) A short programming exercise to improve one's skills through practice and repetition.
- These kata will give you the C# syntax for inheritance.2020, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, Head First C#, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 728
Synonyms:

code kata

Noun (2)

kata (plural katas)

(in-compounds) A drop (in temperature).
- kata factor

Adverb

kata (comparative more kata, superlative most kata)

In a direction analogous to down, but along the additional axis added by the fourth dimension.
- Your right half would move ana, let us say, and your left half would move kata. The two halves would, in their parallel spaces, move past the plane of rotation, and then they would swing back into our space.1985, Rudy von Bitter Rucker, The Fourth Dimension: A Guided Tour of the Higher Universes, page 43
- Added to the conventional FPS control keys are two extra keys that move the player in ana and kata direction in 4d space. If you go in this extra direction the space around you changes, the room transforms.2005, Animation journal, volumes 13-15
Antonyms:

ana

Also used as

kata is also the ellipsis of kata thermometer.

kata is also the alternative form of gata.

Examples of kata in a sentence

Katas are a series of motions, such as punches, strikes, and kicks, arranged in a specific pattern.2006, Kelley MacAulay, Bobbie Kalman, Karate in Action, page 22:
When the competitor's name is called, she stands on the designated line, bows to the panel of judges, and announces the name of the kata she will perform.[…]She then performs the kata.2009, Thomas W. Hanlon, The Sports Rules Book, Human Kinetics, page 161:

Synonyms of kata

code kata

Antonyms

Forms of kata

Noun
plural	katas
plural	kata
Adverb
comparative	more kata
superlative	most kata

Plural of kata: katas or kata

Origin of kata

From Japanese 型 (literally “pattern, model”). In English use since the 1950s.

From Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “downwards”). Compare cata-.

Words formed from kata

gun kata

Phrases with kata

Words that rhyme with kata

Questions about kata

What does kata mean?: Kata means any of a sequence of positions and movements used in many martial arts.
How do you use kata in a sentence?: Katas are a series of motions, such as punches, strikes, and kicks, arranged in a specific pattern.
What part of speech is kata?: Kata can be a noun or an adverb.
How do you pronounce kata?: Kata is pronounced /ˈkætə/.
What is the plural of kata?: The plural of kata is katas.

Words near kata in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: kata (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kata.wav.

Cite this entry: “kata.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kata. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.