Japanese edit

Kanji in this term
うま
Grade: S

Grade: 3
(ateji)
kun’yomi on’yomi
Alternative spellings
旨み
甘味
甘み

Etymology edit

Compound of (uma, the stem of adjective 旨い (umai, tasty, delicious)) +‎ (-mi, -ness, in reference to quality, contrasting with suffix (sa, -ness) that is used to describe degree).[1][2][3]

The use of to spell the -mi suffix is an example of ateji (当て字).[1][2][3]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

(うま)() (umami

  1. the umami flavour
  2. tastiness
  3. skillfulness
  4. profit

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006) 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN