tofu

See also: tōfu, Tofu, and TOFU

English

Seasoned cubes of tofu (1)

typical rendering of an undisplayable character as tofu (2)

Alternative forms

• tōfu

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 豆(とう)腐(ふ) (tōfu), from Middle Chinese 豆腐 (duw^H bju^X, “curdled bean”). Doublet of dubu and doufu.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tō'fū
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtoʊfu/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtəʊfuː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /t̪o.fu/, (spelling pronunciation) /ʈo.fu/

Noun

tofu (countable and uncountable, plural tofus)

1. A protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk.

   Synonyms: bean curd, soycheese, dubu, doufu

   Coordinate term: tempeh

   • 2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook‎^[1], Random House, →ISBN, page 79:

     First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

3. (computing, typography) A box or rectangle, empty or with a question mark or hexadecimal code inside, displayed by some systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts. (such as _□ or 𐕪)

Derived terms

• almond tofu
• annin tofu
• blood tofu
• butter tofu
• mapo tofu
• silken tofu
• stinky tofu
• tofuburger
• tofu-dreg
• tofu dregs
• tofu press
• tofurkey, tofurky
• tofu scramble
• tofu skin
• yong tofu

Translations

protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk

• Afrikaans: tahoe
• Arabic: تُوفُو m (tūfū), تُوفُو m (tofū)

  Hijazi Arabic: توفو m (tōfu)

• Armenian: տոֆու (tofu)
• Azerbaijani: tofu
• Belarusian: то́фу n (tófu)
• Bouyei: duehfuh, dueh
• Bulgarian: то́фу n (tófu)
• Burmese: တိုဟူး (my) (tuihu:)
• Catalan: tofu m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 豆腐 (dau⁶ fu⁶)

  Eastern Min: 豆腐 (dâu-hô)

  Hakka: 豆腐 (theu-fu)

  Hokkien: 豆腐 (zh-min-nan) (tāu-hū)

  Mandarin: 豆腐 (zh) (dòufu)

  Wu: 豆腐

• Czech: tofu n
• Dutch: sojakaas (nl), tahoe (nl), tofoe (nl)
• Esperanto: tofuo, toŭfuo, sojkazeo
• Finnish: tofu (fi)
• French: tofu (fr) m, tofou (fr) m
• Galician: tofu (gl) m
• Georgian: ტოფუ (ṭopu)
• German: Tofu (de) m, Bohnenquark m
• Greek: τόφου (el) n (tófou)
• Gujarati: ટોફુ (ṭophu)
• Hebrew: טוֹפוּ (he) m (tofu)
• Hindi: टोफ़ू m (ṭofū)
• Hmong:

  White Hmong: please add this translation if you can

• Hungarian: tofu (hu)
• Icelandic: tófú
• Ido: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: tahu (id), tofu (id)
• Irish: tófú m
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: tofu (it) m
• Japanese: 豆腐 (ja) (とうふ, tōfu)
• Javanese: please add this translation if you can
• Jeju: 두부 (dubu), 두푸 (dupu)
• Kazakh: тофу (tofu), د‬ۇ‬ف‬ۇ (dufu)
• Khmer: តៅហ៊ូ (km) (tawhuu)
• Korean: 두부(豆腐) (ko) (dubu)
• Kyrgyz: тофу (tofu)
• Lao: ເຕົາຮູ້ (lo) (tao hū)
• Latin: cāseus soiae m
• Lü: ᦷᦏᧈᦝᦴ (ṫho¹fuu)
• Macedonian: то́фу n (tófu)
• Malay: tauhu (ms)
• Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Manchu: ᡩᡝᡶᡠ (defu)
• Māori: tōwhū
• Marathi: टोफू n (ṭophū)
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: tauhu

• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: дүпү (düpü)

  Mongolian script: ᠳ᠋ᠧᠦᠹᠦ᠋ (dēüfü)

• Norwegian: tofu, bønne-ost
• Nuosu: ꄔꃛ (dut fup)
• Okinawan: 豆腐 (どぅーふ, dūfu)
• Persian: توفو (fa) (tofu)
• Polish: tofu (pl) n
• Portuguese: tofu (pt) m
• Romanian: tofu
• Russian: то́фу (ru) n (tófu), со́евый тво́ро́г m (sójevyj tvóróg)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: то̏фу m

  Latin: tȍfu (sh) m

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: tofu
• Slovene: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: tofu (es) m
• Sundanese: ᮒᮠᮥ (tahu)
• Swahili: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: tofu (sv)
• Tagalog: tokwa (tl)
• Tajik: тофу (tofu)
• Tamil: டோஃபூ (ṭōfū)
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: เต้าหู้ (th) (dtâo-hûu)

  Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can

• Tibetan: ཏོའོ་ཕུ (to'o phu)
• Tujia:

  Northern Tujia: texheix

• Turkish: tofu (tr)
• Turkmen: tofu
• Ukrainian: то́фу n (tófu)
• Urdu: ٹوفو m (ṭofū)
• Uyghur: دۇفۇ (dufu), тофу (tofu)
• Uzbek: tofu
• Vietnamese: đậu phụ (vi) (豆腐), tàu hủ (vi), đậu khuôn (vi), đậu hủ (vi)
• Welsh: toffw m
• Zhuang: daxfouh, daeuhfouh, daeuhfuh, doxfuh
• Zulu: please add this translation if you can

computing, typography: box or rectangle displayed in place of a character not supported

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 豆腐塊 / 豆腐块 (dòufǔkuài)

Further reading

• tofu on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• FOUT, U of T

Czech

Noun

tofu n (indeclinable)

1. tofu (protein-rich food made from curdled soybean milk)

Finnish

Etymology

From Japanese 豆腐 (tōfu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtofu/, [ˈt̪o̞fu]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ofu
• Syllabification^(key): to‧fu
• Hyphenation^(key): to‧fu

Noun

tofu

1. tofu (protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk)

Declension

Inflection of tofu (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		tofu	tofut
genitive		tofun	tofujen
partitive		tofua	tofuja
illative		tofuun	tofuihin
		singular	plural
nominative		tofu	tofut
accusative	nom.	tofu	tofut
	gen.	tofun
genitive		tofun	tofujen
partitive		tofua	tofuja
inessive		tofussa	tofuissa
elative		tofusta	tofuista
illative		tofuun	tofuihin
adessive		tofulla	tofuilla
ablative		tofulta	tofuilta
allative		tofulle	tofuille
essive		tofuna	tofuina
translative		tofuksi	tofuiksi
abessive		tofutta	tofuitta
instructive		—	tofuin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of tofu (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tofuni tofuni accusative nom. tofuni tofuni gen. tofuni genitive tofuni tofujeni partitive tofuani tofujani inessive tofussani tofuissani elative tofustani tofuistani illative tofuuni tofuihini adessive tofullani tofuillani ablative tofultani tofuiltani allative tofulleni tofuilleni essive tofunani tofuinani translative tofukseni tofuikseni abessive tofuttani tofuittani instructive — — comitative — tofuineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative tofusi tofusi accusative nom. tofusi tofusi gen. tofusi genitive tofusi tofujesi partitive tofuasi tofujasi inessive tofussasi tofuissasi elative tofustasi tofuistasi illative tofuusi tofuihisi adessive tofullasi tofuillasi ablative tofultasi tofuiltasi allative tofullesi tofuillesi essive tofunasi tofuinasi translative tofuksesi tofuiksesi abessive tofuttasi tofuittasi instructive — — comitative — tofuinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tofumme tofumme accusative nom. tofumme tofumme gen. tofumme genitive tofumme tofujemme partitive tofuamme tofujamme inessive tofussamme tofuissamme elative tofustamme tofuistamme illative tofuumme tofuihimme adessive tofullamme tofuillamme ablative tofultamme tofuiltamme allative tofullemme tofuillemme essive tofunamme tofuinamme translative tofuksemme tofuiksemme abessive tofuttamme tofuittamme instructive — — comitative — tofuinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative tofunne tofunne accusative nom. tofunne tofunne gen. tofunne genitive tofunne tofujenne partitive tofuanne tofujanne inessive tofussanne tofuissanne elative tofustanne tofuistanne illative tofuunne tofuihinne adessive tofullanne tofuillanne ablative tofultanne tofuiltanne allative tofullenne tofuillenne essive tofunanne tofuinanne translative tofuksenne tofuiksenne abessive tofuttanne tofuittanne instructive — — comitative — tofuinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative tofunsa tofunsa accusative nom. tofunsa tofunsa gen. tofunsa genitive tofunsa tofujensa partitive tofuaan tofuansa tofujaan tofujansa inessive tofussaan tofussansa tofuissaan tofuissansa elative tofustaan tofustansa tofuistaan tofuistansa illative tofuunsa tofuihinsa adessive tofullaan tofullansa tofuillaan tofuillansa ablative tofultaan tofultansa tofuiltaan tofuiltansa allative tofulleen tofullensa tofuilleen tofuillensa essive tofunaan tofunansa tofuinaan tofuinansa translative tofukseen tofuksensa tofuikseen tofuiksensa abessive tofuttaan tofuttansa tofuittaan tofuittansa instructive — — comitative — tofuineen tofuinensa

Derived terms

compounds

• tofujäätelö

Further reading

• “tofu”, 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

Anagrams

• ufot

French

Alternative forms

• tofou (rare, archaic)

Etymology

From Japanese.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /to.fu/, /to.fy/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

tofu m (plural tofus)

1. tofu

Indonesian

tofu

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 豆腐(とうふ) (tōfu), from Middle Chinese 豆腐 (duw^H bju^X, “curdled bean”). Doublet of tahu from Min Nan 豆腐 (tāu-hū).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈtofu/ [ˈt̪o.fu]
• Rhymes: -ofu
• Syllabification: to‧fu

Noun

tofu (plural tofu-tofu)

1. tofu, specifically soft or extra-soft unpressed fresh tofu

   Synonym: tahu sutra

Related terms

• tahu (specifically firm or extra firm pressed fresh tofu)

Further reading

• “tofu”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Etymology

From Japanese.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔ.fu/
• Rhymes: -ɔfu
• Hyphenation: tò‧fu

Noun

tofu m (invariable)

1. tofu

Anagrams

• tufo

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 豆腐(とうふ) (tōfu), from Middle Chinese 豆腐 (duw^H bju^X, “curdled bean”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔ.fu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔfu
• Syllabification: to‧fu

Noun

tofu n (indeclinable)

1. tofu

Further reading

• tofu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 豆腐 (tōfu).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /toˈfu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɔˈfu/

• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: to‧fu

Noun

tofu m (plural tofus)

1. tofu (food made from curdled soybean milk)

Further reading

• “tofu”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• toufu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtofu/ [ˈt̪o.fu], /ˈtoufu/ [ˈt̪ou̯.fu]
• Rhymes: -ofu, -oufu
• Syllabification: to‧fu

Noun

tofu m (plural tofus)

1. tofu

Further reading

• “tofu”, 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

Swedish

Noun

tofu c

1. tofu

Declension

Declension of tofu

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	tofu	tofus
	definite	tofun	tofuns
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

References

• “tofu”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “tofu”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “tofu”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈto.fu]

Verb

tofu

1. (stative) to be piled, heaped

Conjugation

Conjugation of tofu

		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		totofu	fotofu	mitofu
2nd person		notofu	nitofu
3rd person	masculine	otofu	itofu yotofu (archaic)
	feminine	motofu
	neuter	itofu

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Turkish

Etymology

From English tofu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toˈfu/, /ˈto.fu/
• Hyphenation: to‧fu

Noun

tofu (definite accusative tofuyu, plural tofular)

1. tofu

   Synonyms: soya eti, soya peyniri

Declension

Declension of tofu

singular plural nominative tofu tofular definite accusative tofuyu tofuları dative tofuya tofulara locative tofuda tofularda ablative tofudan tofulardan genitive tofunun tofuların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular tofum tofularım 2nd singular tofun tofuların 3rd singular tofusu tofuları 1st plural tofumuz tofularımız 2nd plural tofunuz tofularınız 3rd plural tofuları tofuları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular tofumu tofularımı 2nd singular tofunu tofularını 3rd singular tofusunu tofularını 1st plural tofumuzu tofularımızı 2nd plural tofunuzu tofularınızı 3rd plural tofularını tofularını dative singular plural 1st singular tofuma tofularıma 2nd singular tofuna tofularına 3rd singular tofusuna tofularına 1st plural tofumuza tofularımıza 2nd plural tofunuza tofularınıza 3rd plural tofularına tofularına locative singular plural 1st singular tofumda tofularımda 2nd singular tofunda tofularında 3rd singular tofusunda tofularında 1st plural tofumuzda tofularımızda 2nd plural tofunuzda tofularınızda 3rd plural tofularında tofularında ablative singular plural 1st singular tofumdan tofularımdan 2nd singular tofundan tofularından 3rd singular tofusundan tofularından 1st plural tofumuzdan tofularımızdan 2nd plural tofunuzdan tofularınızdan 3rd plural tofularından tofularından genitive singular plural 1st singular tofumun tofularımın 2nd singular tofunun tofularının 3rd singular tofusunun tofularının 1st plural tofumuzun tofularımızın 2nd plural tofunuzun tofularınızın 3rd plural tofularının tofularının

Further reading

• “tofu”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “tofu”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4844