Etymology

hoisin

H4O1I1S1I1N1

Today it means: A sauce made from soy, garlic, chili etc, used in Chinese cooking Full definition →

Cantonese 海鮮 /海鲜
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The story

  1. Cantonese · borrowed from海鮮 /海鲜
  2. English todayhoisin

Borrowed from Cantonese 海鮮 /海鲜 (hoi² sin¹), literally "seafood", though the sauce contains no seafood ingredients.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.