旨味

Japanese

Kanji in this term
旨	味
うま Grade: S	み Grade: 3 (ateji)
kun'yomi	on'yomi

Alternative spellings
旨み 甘味 甘み

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

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

Noun

旨(うま)味(み) • (umami) 

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

See also

Basic tastes in Japanese · 味覚(みかく) (mikaku) (layout · text)
甘(あま)い (amai)	酸(す)っぱい (suppai)	塩(しょ)っぱい (shoppai)	苦(にが​)い (niga​i)	辛(から​)い (kara​i)	旨味(うまみ) (umami)

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN