滋味

Chinese

		excite; nourish; this	taste
simp. and trad. (滋味)		滋	味

Etymology

First attested in 239 B.C.E., in Lüshi Chunqiu.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zīwèi

(Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zi¹ mei⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chṳ̂-mi
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): chir-bī / chu-bī

(Teochew, Peng'im): ze¹ bhi⁷
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹tsy-mi₆

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zīwèi
  - Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄟˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: zihwèi
  - Wade–Giles: tzŭ¹-wei⁴
  - Yale: dz̄-wèi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzywey
  - Palladius: цзывэй (czyvɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɹ̩⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (滋味兒 / 滋味儿)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zīwèir
  - Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄟˋㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: zihwèir
  - Wade–Giles: tzŭ¹-wei⁴-ʼrh
  - Yale: dz̄-wèir
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzywell
  - Palladius: цзывэйр (czyvɛjr)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɹ̩⁵⁵ wəɻ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zi¹ mei⁶
  - Yale: jī meih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi¹ mei⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji¹ méi⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ mei̯²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳ̂-mi
  - Hakka Romanization System: zii^ˊ mi
  - Hagfa Pinyim: zi¹ mi⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sɨ²⁴⁻¹¹ mi⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chir-bī
  - Tâi-lô: tsir-bī
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɯ³³ bi⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chu-bī
  - Tâi-lô: tsu-bī
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zu'bi
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡su⁴⁴⁻²² bi²²/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡su⁴⁴⁻³³ bi³³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: ze¹ bhi⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsṳ bī
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɯ³³⁻²³ bi¹¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹tsy-mi₆
  - MiniDict: tsy^平 mi^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tsr-mi₃
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sɹ̩⁵⁵ mi²¹/

Noun

滋味

(literally) taste; flavor
(figuratively) feeling; experience
他知道沒有朋友的滋味。 [MSC, trad.]
他知道没有朋友的滋味。 [MSC, simp.]
Tā zhīdào méiyǒu péngyǒu de zīwèi. [Pinyin]
He knows what it's like to be without friends.
- circa 975~978, 李煜, 相見歡:
  
  別是一番滋味在心頭 [Ci, trad.]
  别是一番滋味在心头 [Ci, simp.]
  bié shì yīfān zīwèi zài xīntóu [Pinyin]
  There's an unspeakable feeling not like any other kind in my heart.
(archaic) delicious food; delicacy
- c. 1378, 宋濂, 送東陽馬生序:
  
  寓逆旅，主人日再食，無鮮肥滋味之享。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
  寓逆旅，主人日再食，无鲜肥滋味之享。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
  Yù nìlǚ, zhǔrén rì zài sì, wú xiānféi zīwèi zhī xiǎng. [Pinyin]
  Lodging at an inn, the host provided two meals a day, devoid of fresh and fine cuisine to enjoy.
(Dongyang Wu) salty; salted

Synonyms

(taste):

Dialectal synonyms of 味道 (“taste; flavour”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		味
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		滋味, 味道, 風味, 口味
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	味兒
	Taiwan	味道, 味
	Singapore	味道, 味
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	味兒
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	味道
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	味道
	Wuhan	味口, 味
	Guilin	味道
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	味道
Jianghuai Mandarin	Hefei	味道
Cantonese	Guangzhou	味道, 味
	Hong Kong	味道, 味
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	味道
	Yangjiang	味
	Singapore (Guangfu)	味道, 味
Gan	Nanchang	味道
Hakka	Meixian	味道
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	味緒, 味道
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	味緒, 味道
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	味緒, 味道
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	味緒, 味道
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	味緒, 味道
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	味素, 味緒, 味道
	Hong Kong	味
	Kuala Lumpur (Dabu)	味素
	Singkawang	味
Jin	Taiyuan	味兒, 味道
Northern Min	Jian'ou	味道
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	味
Southern Min	Xiamen	味, 味素
	Quanzhou	味, 味素
	Yongchun	味, 味素
	Zhangzhou	味, 味素
	Penang (Hokkien)	味素
	Singapore (Hokkien)	味, 味素
	Manila (Hokkien)	味, 味素
	Chaozhou	味素, 味道, 味
	Shantou	味道, 味素
	Jieyang	味, 味素
Wu	Shanghai	味道, 吃口, 上口
	Suzhou	味道
	Wenzhou	味道
Xiang	Changsha	味道
	Shuangfeng	味道
	Hengyang	味

(feeling):

edit

感受 (gǎnshòu)
感想 (gǎnxiǎng)
感觸 / 感触 (gǎnchù)
觀感 / 观感 (guāngǎn)

(delicious food):

edit

甘脆 (gāncuì) (literary)
美味 (měiwèi)
美食 (měishí)
鮮味 / 鲜味 (xiānwèi)

Derived terms

不是滋味 (bùshì zīwèi)
個中滋味 / 个中滋味

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (滋味):

→ Japanese: 滋味(じみ) (jimi)

Others:

→ Korean: 재미 (jaemi)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
滋	味
じ Grade: 4	み Grade: 3
on'yomi

Noun

滋(じ)味(み) • (jimi)

nutriment, nourishment
savoriness, deep flavor

References

“滋味”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026