寿司

See also: 壽司

Chinese
For pronunciation and definitions of 寿司 – see 壽司 (“sushi”).
(This term, 寿司, is the simplified form of 壽司.)
Notes:

Japanese

Etymology 1
A plate of maki-zushi, sushi rolled up in dried seaweed.
Kanji in this term
寿 司
す
Grade: S		 し
Grade: 4
on’yomi

From 酸し (sushi, “sour”), the archaic し (shi) terminal-form conjugation of modern 酸い (sui, “sour”).[1][2][3]

Originally, sushi was a form of fish that had been salted and fermented for preservation without refrigeration. The fish was sometimes packed with rice or rice mixed with vinegar in order to speed the fermentation process. In the Edo period, this was also known as hayazushi (早鮨, 早鮓) when packed in layers, pressed, and fermented for just one night. Something similar is still prepared today as narezushi (馴鮨, 熟鮨) that relies on fermentation with no added vinegar.

The kanji are an example of ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

寿司 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 壽司, hiragana すし, rōmaji sushi)

  1. sushi: vinegared rice served with fish or vegetables, etc.
Usage notes

Sushi may be counted a number of ways:

Historically, かん or 貫 (kan) is a relatively recent innovation, appearing in the 1970s. In the Edo period when modern sushi first starts to appear, and all the way through the Meiji or Taishō periods, records only show the use of the generic つ (tsu) and 個 (ko) counters.[6]

Derived terms
Derived terms
Descendants

See also
  • Appendix:Japanese sushi terms

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
寿 司
ひさ
Grade: S		 し
Grade: 4
yutōyomi

Originally the classical stem or terminal form 久し (hisashi) of modern adjective 久しい (hisashii, “long-lasting, persisting for a long time”).

The spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), combining the characters 寿 (“long life, longevity”) and 司 (“serving; servant”).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Proper noun

寿司 (hiragana ひさし, rōmaji Hisashi)

  1. a unisex given name

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  6. 飯田朝子 (Asako Iida) (04 2004), 町田健 (Ken Machida), editor, 数え方の辞典 (Kazoekata no Jiten, “Counter Dictionary”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shōgakukan
    『改訂食品事典』(1974)によると、昭和時代、仕上げた料理を2個盛り付けることを料理人の間で「にかん盛り」と言うようになり、「かん」を「個」の意味で使ったとあります。
    According to the Revised Food Dictionary (1974), it was in the Shōwa period that chefs started to call a plate with two completed sushi servings a “two-kan plate”, using “kan” to mean “piece”.
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