Meanings
plural mirins
- uncountableusuallyA form of Japanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké and used in cooking.
Teriyaki sauce, a mixture of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sometimes sugar, may be brushed on meats, fish, or vegetables […]
2017, James Peterson, Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making, HarperCollins, →ISBN1 more example
Although naturally brewed mirin is made from only water, sweet brown rice, and rice koji, much of the mirin sold in natural food stores and Oriental markets is sweetened with sugar or corn syrup; read labels carefully.
1989 November, Drew DeSilver, Jan Gahala, “What is that stuff?”, in Vegetarian Times, →ISSN, page 43
Origin
- Japanese味醂
- Englishmirin
Borrowed from Japanese 味醂 (mirin).
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 味醂
- 味醂 (mei⁶ lam⁴, mei⁶ lam⁵)Japanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké
Chinese Mandarin 味醂
- 味醂 (wèilǎn, wèilín)Japanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké
Indonesian mirin
- mirinJapanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké
Japanese 味醂
- 味醂 (mirin)Japanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké
Portuguese mirin
- mirinJapanese rice wine, less alcoholic than saké
Cite this entry
mirin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirin
“mirin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirin. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mirin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirin.
Source: mirin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.