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🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

旨味

Pronunciation / Transliteration: umami

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Umami/uːˈmɑːmi/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #4500 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"だしには多くの旨味成分が含まれています。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A category of taste in food (besides sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), corresponding to the flavor of glutamates, especially monosodium glutamate.

    "The slow-cooked beef broth was rich in umami, giving it a deep and satisfying flavor."
  2. 2

    A savory or meaty taste quality that enhances the overall palatability of dishes.

    "Adding mushrooms and parmesan cheese to the sauce brings an extra layer of umami."
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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Borrowed into English in the late 20th century from Japanese, umami is a combination of 'ui' (delicious) and 'mi' (taste). It was coined in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda to scientifically describe the savory fifth basic taste discovered in seaweed broth.

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