Makurakotoba is a technique of poetry which was used as often as jokotoba (序詞) in "Manyoshu," and after the Heian period, most of makurakotoba have had nothing to do with the meaning of the poems.
序詞とともに『万葉集』に多用された歌の技法であり、平安時代以降の場合は、歌の意味には直接的に関係しないことが多い。