Meanings
plural shiitakes · alternative shitake
- A wide, brown variety of edible mushroom, Lentinula edodes.
Some fun meatless recipes include jackfruit sandwiches in place of pulled pork; black bean meatless balls or eggplant and shiitake “meatballs.”
2020 May 19, Lisa Drayer, “How to eat less meat and more plants”, in CNN1 more example
Tea bag-style dashi kits are a better quick choice. They pack katsuobushi, kombu and often other ingredients, like dried baby sardines (niboshi) and shiitake mushrooms, into a steepable bag.
2022 October 19, J. Kenji López-Alt, “What Kenji López-Alt Makes His Family for Dinner”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 25 Oct 2022Synonyms: Chinese mushroom
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA wide, brown variety of edible mushroom, Lentinula edodes.
More synonyms by meaning
nounedible east Asian mushroom having a golden or dark brown to blackish cap and an inedible stipe
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Japanese椎茸
- Englishshiitake
Borrowed from Japanese 椎茸 (shītake), from 椎 (shī, “a shii or chinquapin tree”) + 茸 (take, “a mushroom”), from the way the mushrooms tend to grow on chinquapin logs. First cited in English in 1877.
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sjiïtake
- sjiïtakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Arabic شِيتَاكِي
- شِيتَاكِي (šītākī)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Catalan xiitake
- xiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Chinese Cantonese 冬菇
- 冬菇Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Chinese Mandarin 香菇, 冬菇
- 香菇 (xiānggū)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- 冬菇 (dōnggū)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Czech houževnatec jedlý, šiitake
- houževnatec jedlýLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- šiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Dutch shiitake
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Esperanto ŝitako
- ŝitakoLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Finnish siitake, shiitake
- siitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- siitakesieniLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
French lentin du chêne, shiitake
- lentin du chêneLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shiitakéLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shitakéLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- champignon parfuméLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- champignon chinoisLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
German Shiitake
- ShiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Greek σιτάκε
- σιτάκε (sitáke)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Hungarian siitake, illatos fagomba
- siitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- illatos fagombaLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Indonesian hioko, shitake
- hiokoLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Irish síotaicé
- síotaicéLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Italian shiitake
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Japanese 椎茸, シイタケ
- 椎茸 (shītake)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- シイタケ (shītake)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- 冬子 (donko)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- ドンコ (donko)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Korean 표고, 표고버섯
- 표고 (pyogo)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- 표고버섯 (pyogobeoseot)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Persian شیتاکه
- شیتاکه (šitâke)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Polish shiitake, twardziak japoński
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- twardziak japońskiLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- twardnik japońskiLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- twardziak jadalnyLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Portuguese shiitake, shitake
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Russian шиита́ке, сянгу́
- шиита́ке (šiitáke)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- сянгу́ (sjangú)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Spanish shiitake, shitake
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- shitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- hongo del árbol shiiLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Swedish shiitake
- shiitakeLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Thai เห็ดหอม
- เห็ดหอม (hèt hŏm)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Turkish şitaki, şitaki mantarı
- şitakiLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- şitaki mantarıLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Ukrainian шіїтаке́
- шіїтаке́ (šijitaké)Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Vietnamese nấm hương, nấm đông cô
- nấm hươngLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
- nấm đông côLentinula edodes, an edible mushroom
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shiitake
All rhymes →Cite this entry
shiitake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shiitake
“shiitake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shiitake. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shiitake,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shiitake.
Source: shiitake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.