Etymology

kimchi

K5I1M3C3H4I1

Today it means: A Korean dish made of vegetables, such as cabbage or radishes, that are salted, seasoned, and stored in sealed containers to undergo lactic acid fermentation. Full definition →

Korean 김치
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Korean · borrowed from김치
  2. English todaykimchi

Borrowed from Korean 김치 (gimchi), ultimately composed within Korea of Chinese-derived morphemes 沉 (MC drim, “submerged, soaked”) and 菜 (MC tshojH, “vegetable”), i.e. "fermented vegetable". Doublet of kimuchi.

Words from the same roots

Korean김치 all →

kimuchi

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.