Etymology

nigiri

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Today it means: Regular sushi: a piece of raw fish (or other topping) on top of a small oblong brick of sticky white rice. Full definition →

Japanese 握り
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The story

  1. Japanese · borrowed from握り“grasping, gripping”
  2. English todaynigiri

Borrowed from Japanese 握り (nigiri, “grasping, gripping”, short for 握り寿司 nigirizushi, literally “gripped sushi” from the way the sushi rice is molded in the hand).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.