sushi

See also: Sushi, sùshí, and sūshi

English

Different types of sushi ready to be eaten.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 寿司(すし) (sushi, “sushi (sour rice)”), ultimately from archaic conjugation 酸(す)し (sushi, “sour, vinegared”) of modern adjective 酸(す)い (sui, “sour, vinegared”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: so͞osh'i, IPA^(key): /ˈsuːʃi/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsuʃi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːʃi
• Homophone: souchy

Noun

sushi (usually uncountable, plural sushis or sushi)

1. A Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped in seaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables or meat.

   For the vegetarians, she served cucumber sushi.

   He went to a Japanese restaurant and ordered sushi and noodles.

   • 1879 October 4, W. H. Patterson, “Japanese Cookery”, in Notes and Queries, volume s5-XII, number 301, London: John Francis, →DOI, page 263:

     Suzuributa.—Mashed fish, eggs, 'sushi' of shrimps, plum cake, black mushroom, plum, and finely cut orange.

   • 1977 [1933], 谷崎潤一郎 [Jun'ichirō Tanizaki], translated by Thomas J. Harper and Edward G. Seidensticker, In Praise of Shadows, Sedgwick, ME: Leete's Island Books, translation of 陰翳礼讃 [In'ei Raisan] (in Japanese), →ISBN, page 40:

     Not long ago a newspaper reporter came to interview me on the subject of unusual foods, and I described to him the persimmon-leaf sushi made by the people who live deep in the mountains of Yoshino—and which I shall take the opportunity to introduce to you here.

   • 1985, Leora Barish, Desperately Seeking Susan, spoken by Taxi Driver:

     I lived in New York all my life. We used to have Chinese restaurants, ltalian restaurants. Now you have these sushi restaurants. Everyone goes for sushi. Sushi—I hate the stuff. Although, I tell you, I had some the other day. I took it home, I cooked it, it wasn't bad. It tasted like fish.

   • 2004, Chihiro Mazui, Kazuko Masui, “Introduction”, in Sushi Secrets, London: Hachette Illustrated, →ISBN, page 12:

     To appreciate sushi, you have to forget the tastes and textures that come with Western cuisine. At first glance (or should I say taste?), a sushi of flounder will not be that different from a sushi of sea bream. But, for the Japanese, these two sushi are as different as roast beef and roast pork are for a Westerner.

   • 2023 June 15, Rebecca Wallwork, “‘You had to be there’: Foods that taste better on home turf”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     As Trevor Corson, author of “The Story of Sushi” explains, in Japan, sushi is typically eaten at a bar, where it’s customary for the customer to chat with the chef, who can recommend what’s in season. The short window during which the fish is fresh also makes it more likely to be tastier in Japan.

2. (countable, rare) One of the portions from this dish.
   • 1983 May 31, Robert Nadeau, “Restaurant: Gyuhama of Japan: Suit yourself with sushi”, in Richard M. Gaines, editor, The Boston Phoenix, volume XII, number 22, Boston, Mass.: Boston Phoenix Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, section 2, page 10, column 3:

     You will recall that, contrary to the relative appearance of the words, the sashimi are the simple raw fish slices and the sushi are the rolls of rice and raw fish.

   • 1989, Jean Marzollo, chapter 5, in The Green Ghost of Appleville (39 Kids on the Block; 1), New York, N.Y.: Scholastic Inc., →ISBN, page 42:

     Rusty put a sushi in her palm. / Mary Kate popped it into her mouth. It tasted salty and crunchy. “Cucumber!” she said. / “My grandmother puts a surprise in the middle of each one,” said Rusty.

   • 1997, Jeffrey A. Kottler, “Focusing on People”, in Travel That Can Change Your Life: How to Create a Transformative Experience (Jossey-Bass Psychology Series), San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass Publishers, →ISBN, page 92:

     I reach out and pop a sushi into my mouth while I’m waiting for someone to answer a question.

   • 2009 September 14, Frank Penater, “Undercover”, in The Gene Card, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 161:

     Startled by the venom, Erik almost dropped a sushi into his mixture of soy sauce and wasabi.

3. (proscribed) Raw fish, especially as a Japanese dish.
   • 2012, Alison Acheson, Molly's Cue, page 26:

     'Can't eat sushi?' I said. Then Mom said, 'You can't eat uncooked fish when you're pregnant' as if I'm the one stupid enough to go and get pregnant!

Usage notes

• Some non-Japanese people assume the defining component of sushi is raw fish, and occasionally use "sushi" to mean "raw fish". Raw slices of fish (or other meats) served without rice are properly termed sashimi.
• The collective plural of sushi is generally sushi. When referring to two or more types of sushi or to multiple instances of sushi the plural is usually sushis.

Derived terms

• conveyor belt sushi
• southern sushi
• sushi belt
• sushi burrito
• sushi-go-round
• sushi grade
• sushi knife
• sushi-meshi
• sushi pizza
• sushi rice
• sushirrito
• sushi terrorism
• sushi train
• tongue sushi

Translations

Japanese dish

• Albanian: sushi
• Amharic: ሱሺ (suši)
• Arabic: سُوشِي m (sūšī)
• Armenian: սուշի (hy) (suši)
• Azerbaijani: suşi
• Basque: sushi
• Belarusian: су́шы n (súšy)
• Bengali: সুশি (śuśi)
• Breton: sushi
• Bulgarian: су́ши (bg) n (súši)
• Burmese: ဆူရှီ (hcuhri)
• Catalan: sushi (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 壽司 / 寿司 (sau⁶ si¹)

  Hakka: 壽司 / 寿司 (su-sí)

  Hokkien: 壽司 / 寿司 (sú-sih), 醋飯箍 / 醋饭箍 (chhò͘-pn̄g-kho͘), 臭酸飯 / 臭酸饭 (chhàu-sng-pn̄g)

  Mandarin: 壽司 / 寿司 (zh) (shòusī), 日本壽司 / 日本寿司 (Rìběn shòusī)

• Czech: suši (cs)
• Danish: sushi (da)
• Dutch: sushi (nl)
• Esperanto: suŝio
• Estonian: suši
• Faroese: sushi
• Finnish: sushi (fi), suši (fi)
• French: sushi (fr) m
• Galician: sushi
• Georgian: სუში (suši)
• German: Sushi (de) n

  Bavarian: Suschi

• Greek: σούσι (el) (soúsi)
• Gujarati: સુશી (suśī)
• Hebrew: סוּשִׁי (he) m (súshi)
• Hindi: सुशी (hi) (suśī), सूशी (hi) (sūśī)
• Hungarian: szusi (hu)
• Icelandic: sushi
• Ido: sushi (io)
• Indonesian: sushi, susyi
• Irish: súisí
• Italian: sushi (it)
• Japanese: 寿司 (ja), 鮨 (ja), 鮓 (ja), すし (ja) (sushi)
• Javanese: sushi
• Kannada: ಸುಶೀ (suśī), ಸೂಶೀ (sūśī)
• Kazakh: суши (suşi)
• Khmer: ស៊ូស៊ី (suusii)
• Korean: 초밥 (ko) (chobap), 스시 (ko) (seusi)
• Kyrgyz: суши (suşi)
• Lao: ຊູຊິ (sū si)
• Latvian: suši (lv)
• Lithuanian: sušis m
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: soesie

• Lü: ᦌᦳᦌᦲ (susii)
• Macedonian: су́ши n (súši)
• Malay: susyi
• Malayalam: സുഷി (ml) (suṣi)
• Maltese: suxi
• Marathi: सुशी f (suśī), सूशी f (sūśī)
• Nahuatl:

  Classical Nahuatl: sushi

• Navajo: łóóʼ tʼáá tʼéehgo bił asdisígíí, łóóʼ binááʼádaałtsʼózí deiyánígíí
• Nepali: सुसी (susī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sushi

• Persian: سوشی (suši)
• Polish: sushi (pl) n
• Portuguese: sushi (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸੂਸ਼ੀ (sūśī), ਸੁਸ਼ੀ (suśī)
• Romanian: sushi (ro)
• Russian: су́ши (ru) n (súši), су́си (ru) n (súsi)
• Scots: sushi
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: су̏ши m

  Latin: sȕši (sh) m

• Sinhalese: සුෂි (suṣi)
• Slovak: suši
• Slovene: suši m
• Spanish: sushi (es) m
• Swahili: sushi
• Swedish: sushi (sv) c
• Tagalog: sushi
• Tajik: суши (suš-i)
• Tamil: சுசீ (cucī), சூசீ (cūcī)
• Telugu: సుశీ (suśī), సూశీ (sūśī)
• Thai: ซูชิ (th) (suu-chí)
• Tibetan: ཧྲོའུ་སི (hro'u si)
• Turkish: suşi (tr)
• Turkmen: suşi
• Ukrainian: су́ші n (súši)
• Urdu: سشی (suśī), سوشی (sūśī)
• Uzbek: sushi
• Vietnamese: sushi
• Welsh: swshi m
• Yiddish: סושי m (sushi)

See also

• California roll
• nigiri
• sashimi
• sushi roll
• kimbap

Verb

sushi (third-person singular simple present sushis, present participle sushiing, simple past and past participle sushied)

1. (transitive, informal) To prepare (a food) as sushi.
   • 2017, Korina Miller, Kate Armstrong, Lonely Planet Canada:

     Our finned friends come in all varieties: sushi-ed, fresh, smoked and otherwise packaged for your consumption.

Anagrams

• Shius

Basque

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s̺uʃi/ [s̺u.ʃi]
• Rhymes: -uʃi, -i
• Hyphenation: su‧shi

Noun

sushi inan

1. sushi
   • 2000, Harkaiz Cano, Piano gainean gosaltzen, Erein, →ISBN:

     Sushia eta kabiarra besterik ez dago mahai gainetan.

     There's only sushi and caviar on the table.

Declension

Declension of sushi (inan V-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	sushi	sushia	sushiak	sushiok
ergative	sushik	sushiak	sushiek	sushiok
dative	sushiri	sushiari	sushiei	sushioi
genitive	sushiren	sushiaren	sushien	sushion
comitative	sushirekin	sushiarekin	sushiekin	sushiokin
causative	sushirengatik	sushiarengatik	sushiengatik	sushiongatik
benefactive	sushirentzat	sushiarentzat	sushientzat	sushiontzat
instrumental	sushiz	sushiaz	sushiez	sushiotaz
innesive	sushitan	sushian	sushietan	sushiotan
locative	sushitako	sushiko	sushietako	sushiotako
allative	sushitara	sushira	sushietara	sushiotara
terminative	sushitaraino	sushiraino	sushietaraino	sushiotaraino
directive	sushitarantz	sushirantz	sushietarantz	sushiotarantz
destinative	sushitarako	sushirako	sushietarako	sushiotarako
ablative	sushitatik	sushitik	sushietatik	sushiotatik
partitive	sushirik	—	—	—
prolative	sushitzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “sushi”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Catalan

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈsu.ʃi]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

sushi m (plural sushis)

1. sushi

Danish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司.

Noun

sushi

1. sushi

Declension

Declension of sushi

common gender	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	sushi	sushien
genitive	sushis	sushiens

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsu.ʃi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: su‧shi

Noun

sushi m (plural sushi's or sushi, no diminutive)

1. sushi

Derived terms

• sushiazijn
• sushirestaurant
• sushitent

Finnish

Alternative forms

• suši

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuʃi/, [ˈs̠uʃi]
• Rhymes: -uʃi
• Syllabification^(key): su‧shi
• Hyphenation^(key): su‧shi

Noun

sushi

1. sushi

Declension

Inflection of sushi (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		sushi	sushit
genitive		sushin	sushien
partitive		sushia	susheja
illative		sushiin	susheihin
		singular	plural
nominative		sushi	sushit
accusative	nom.	sushi	sushit
	gen.	sushin
genitive		sushin	sushien
partitive		sushia	susheja
inessive		sushissa	susheissa
elative		sushista	susheista
illative		sushiin	susheihin
adessive		sushilla	susheilla
ablative		sushilta	susheilta
allative		sushille	susheille
essive		sushina	susheina
translative		sushiksi	susheiksi
abessive		sushitta	susheitta
instructive		—	sushein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of sushi (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative sushini sushini accusative nom. sushini sushini gen. sushini genitive sushini sushieni partitive sushiani sushejani inessive sushissani susheissani elative sushistani susheistani illative sushiini susheihini adessive sushillani susheillani ablative sushiltani susheiltani allative sushilleni susheilleni essive sushinani susheinani translative sushikseni susheikseni abessive sushittani susheittani instructive — — comitative — susheineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative sushisi sushisi accusative nom. sushisi sushisi gen. sushisi genitive sushisi sushiesi partitive sushiasi sushejasi inessive sushissasi susheissasi elative sushistasi susheistasi illative sushiisi susheihisi adessive sushillasi susheillasi ablative sushiltasi susheiltasi allative sushillesi susheillesi essive sushinasi susheinasi translative sushiksesi susheiksesi abessive sushittasi susheittasi instructive — — comitative — susheinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative sushimme sushimme accusative nom. sushimme sushimme gen. sushimme genitive sushimme sushiemme partitive sushiamme sushejamme inessive sushissamme susheissamme elative sushistamme susheistamme illative sushiimme susheihimme adessive sushillamme susheillamme ablative sushiltamme susheiltamme allative sushillemme susheillemme essive sushinamme susheinamme translative sushiksemme susheiksemme abessive sushittamme susheittamme instructive — — comitative — susheinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative sushinne sushinne accusative nom. sushinne sushinne gen. sushinne genitive sushinne sushienne partitive sushianne sushejanne inessive sushissanne susheissanne elative sushistanne susheistanne illative sushiinne susheihinne adessive sushillanne susheillanne ablative sushiltanne susheiltanne allative sushillenne susheillenne essive sushinanne susheinanne translative sushiksenne susheiksenne abessive sushittanne susheittanne instructive — — comitative — susheinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative sushinsa sushinsa accusative nom. sushinsa sushinsa gen. sushinsa genitive sushinsa sushiensa partitive sushiaan sushiansa sushejaan sushejansa inessive sushissaan sushissansa susheissaan susheissansa elative sushistaan sushistansa susheistaan susheistansa illative sushiinsa susheihinsa adessive sushillaan sushillansa susheillaan susheillansa ablative sushiltaan sushiltansa susheiltaan susheiltansa allative sushilleen sushillensa susheilleen susheillensa essive sushinaan sushinansa susheinaan susheinansa translative sushikseen sushiksensa susheikseen susheiksensa abessive sushittaan sushittansa susheittaan susheittansa instructive — — comitative — susheineen susheinensa

Further reading

• “sushi”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

French

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• (France) IPA^(key): /su.ʃi/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

sushi m (plural sushis)

1. sushi

Indonesian

Noun

sushi (plural sushi-sushi)

1. nonstandard spelling of susyi

   Sushi dan sashimi, makanan khas Jepang yang digemari di Indonesia.

   Sushi and sashimi are popular Japanese food in Indonesia.

Italian

un vassoio di sushi – a sushi platter

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuʃ.ʃi/
• Rhymes: -uʃʃi
• Hyphenation: sù‧shi

Noun

sushi m (uncountable)

1. sushi

Related terms

• susci

Further reading

• sushi in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Japanese

Romanization

sushi

1. Rōmaji transcription of すし

Malay

Noun

sushi (plural sushi-sushi or sushi²)

1. nonstandard spelling of susyi

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Spanish sucio and Portuguese sujo and Kabuverdianu suja.

Adjective

sushi

1. dirty

Noun

sushi

1. dirt, waste
2. dust bin

Polish

sushi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Japanese 酢

Old Japanese

Japanese し

Japanese 酸しder.

Japanese 寿司bor.

English sushiubor.

Polish sushi

Unadapted borrowing from English sushi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsu.ɕi/, /ˈsu.ʂi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uɕi, -uʂi
• Syllabification: su‧shi
• Homophone: susi

Noun

sushi n (indeclinable)

1. sushi (Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped in seaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables, or meat)

Further reading

• sushi in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• sushi in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• sushi in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /suˈʃi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsu.ʃi/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -i, (Portugal) -uʃi
• Hyphenation: su‧shi

Noun

sushi m (plural sushis)

1. sushi (Japanese dish of rice with vinegar)
2. sushi (raw fish in Japanese cuisine)

Related terms

• sushiman

Further reading

• “sushi”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sushi”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “sushi”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “sushi”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Noun

sushi n (plural sushiuri)

1. sushi

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuʃi/ [ˈsu.ʃi]
  • Rhymes: -uʃi
• IPA^(key): /ˈsusi/ [ˈsu.si] (chiefly Spain)
  • Rhymes: -usi
• Syllabification: su‧shi

Noun

sushi m (plural sushis)

1. sushi
   • 2021 April 26, John Malathronas, “¿Cuáles son los idiomas más fáciles (y difíciles) de aprender para los hablantes nativos de inglés?”, in CNN en Español‎^[3]:

     Japón, un país que ha enriquecido al mundo con el sushi, el karaoke y el manga, tiene muchos devotos, especialmente entre los fanáticos de los videojuegos y los geeks.

     Japan, a country that has enriched the world with sushi, karaoke and manga, has many devotees, especially among video game fanatics and geeks.

Usage notes

• According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Derived terms

• sushiería

Further reading

• “sushi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swahili

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

sushi class IX (plural sushi class X)

1. sushi

Swedish

en bit sushi som plockas upp med (ät)pinnar [a piece of sushi being picked up with chopsticks]

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Noun

sushi c

1. sushi

   en sushirestaurang

   a sushi restaurant

   Vi gick till ett sushiställe

   We went to a sushi place

   äta sushi med pinnar

   eat sushi with chopsticks

   doppa sushi i soja

   dip sushi in soy sauce

   beställa 12 bitar sushi

   order 12 pieces of sushi

   sushirullar inlindade i nori

   sushi rolls wrapped in nori

   hemgjord sushi

   homemade sushi

Declension

Declension of sushi

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	sushi	sushis
	definite	sushin	sushins
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

See also

• doppa (“dip”)
• inlagd (“pickled”) ingefära (“ginger”)
• japansk (“Japanese”)
• maki
• misosoppa (“miso soup”)
• munsbit (“bite-sized amount of food”)
• nigiri
• nori
• pinnar (“chopsticks”)
• ris (“rice”)
• rulle (“roll”)
• rå (“raw”) fisk (“fish”)
• sashimi
• soja(sås) (“soy sauce”)
• vinäger (“vinegar”)
• wasabi

References

• sushi in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sushi in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Tagalog

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 寿司 (sushi).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsuʃi/ [ˈsuː.ʃɪ]
  • IPA^(key): (no palatal assimilation) /ˈsusji/ [ˈsus.jɪ]
• Rhymes: -uʃi, (no palatal assimilation) -usji
• Syllabification: su‧shi

Noun

sushi (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜓᜐ᜔ᜌᜒ)

1. sushi (Japanese dish)

Further reading

• “sushi”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018