Meanings
nounnigiri (uncountable)
- uncountableRegular sushi: a piece of raw fish (or other topping) on top of a small oblong brick of sticky white rice.
Origin
- Japanese握り“grasping, gripping”
- Englishnigiri
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).
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نِيغِيرِي, نِيجِيرِي
- نِيغِيرِي (nīḡīrī)a regular sushi — see also sushi
- نِيجِيرِي (nījīrī)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Bengali নিগিরি
- নিগিরি (nigiri)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Chinese Mandarin 握壽司 /握寿司
- 握壽司 /握寿司 (wòshòusī)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Hebrew נִיגִירִי, נִיגִירִיזוּשִׁי
- נִיגִירִי (nigíri)a regular sushi — see also sushi
- נִיגִירִיזוּשִׁי (nigirizúshi)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Japanese 握り, 握り寿司
- 握り (nigiri)a regular sushi — see also sushi
- 握り寿司 (nigirizushi)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Korean 니기리즈시
- 니기리즈시 (nigirijeusi)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Russian ниги́ри, нигиризу́си
- ниги́ри (nigíri)a regular sushi — see also sushi
- нигиризу́си (nigirizúsi)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Tagalog nigiri
- nigiria regular sushi — see also sushi
Urdu نگری, نیگری
- نگری (nigirī)a regular sushi — see also sushi
- نیگری (nīgirī)a regular sushi — see also sushi
Cite this entry
APA
nigiri. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nigiri
MLA
“nigiri.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nigiri. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nigiri,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nigiri.
Source: nigiri on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.