旨味

旨味

Japanese

Kanji in this term
旨	味
うま Grade: S	み Grade: 3
yutōyomi

Etymology

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

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

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
  • (Tokyo) うまみ [ùmámí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • (Tokyo) うまみ​ [ùmámíꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝma̠mʲi]

Alternative forms

• 旨み, 甘味, 甘み

Noun

旨味 (hiragana うまみ, rōmaji umami)

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

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN