味

Han character

味 (radical 30, 口+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 口十木 (RJD), four-corner 6509₀, composition ⿰口未)

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *mɯds) : semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).

Etymology

Schuessler (2007) compared this word with Proto-Monic *[ʔ]məp ("good tasting, have a pleasant flavour, be pleasant") > Mon မိပ် (mìp, “to be happy, to enjoy”). Unger (1992) connects this with Tibetan བྲོད (brod) (< བྲོ (bro, “to taste”)). Also compare Korean 맛 (mas, “taste”) / 멋 (mes, “taste; charm”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

味

1. taste; flavor

   • 甘橘，大厘城有之，其味酸。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Tang Dynasty, Fan Chuo, Manshu, chapter 7, part 7

     Gānjú, Dàlí chéng yǒu zhī, qí wèi suān. [Pinyin]

     Dali City has sweet tangerines, but their flavour is sour.

2. smell; odor (Classifier: 股 m; 𠹻 c)

   點解你間房好似有𠹻味嘅？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   点解你间房好似有𠹻味嘅？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   Dim² gaai² nei⁵ gaan¹ fong^4-2 hou² ci⁵ jau⁵ zam⁶ mei⁶ ge³? [Jyutping]

   Why does your room seem like there is some smell?

3. food

   海味  ―  hǎiwèi  ―  seafood [i.e. taste of the sea]

4. to taste; to reflect on; to experience

   品味  ―  pǐnwèi  ―  to taste; to appreciate

5. interest; fun; taste

   意味  ―  yìwèi  ―  meaning

   趣味  ―  qùwèi  ―  fun; taste

6. Classifier for ingredients of a Chinese medicine prescription.
7. Classifier for dishes.

   今日味味餸都啱嗮我胃口。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   今日味味𩠌都啱嗮我胃口。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Gam¹ jat⁶ mei⁶ mei⁶ sung³ dou¹ ngaam¹ saai³ ngo⁵ wai⁶ hau². [Jyutping]

   Every dish here today is my kind of food.

   一魚幾味 / 一鱼几味 [Cantonese]  ―  jat¹ jyu⁴ gei² mei^6-2 [Jyutping]  ―  one fish, several dishes

8. (Cantonese) Classifier for things: kind; sort

   呢味嘢太惡搞喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   呢味嘢太恶搞喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Ne¹ mei^6-2 je⁵ taai³ ok³ gaau² laa³. [Jyutping]

   This kind of stuff is too hard to handle.

   原來你中意嗰味嘢嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   原来你中意𠮶味嘢嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Jyun⁴ loi⁴ nei⁵ zung¹ ji³ go² mei^6-2 je⁵ ge³. [Jyutping]

   So you like that kind of stuff.

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• Proto-Hmong-Mien: *hmeiᴴ (“taste; to try”)
• Vietnamese: mùi (“smell”)

Kanji

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Noun

味 (hiragana あじ, rōmaji aji)

1. flavour (UK); flavor (US)

Suffix

味 (hiragana み, rōmaji -mi)

1. (after an i-adjective stem) -ness; any degree of being

Hanja

味 • (mi) (hangeul 미, revised mi, McCune–Reischauer mi)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Han character

味 (vị, mùi, mồi)

1. Nôm form of mùi, “smell; scent”
2. Hán tự form of vị, “taste; flavor”