noun
Refers to the plant or its bulb, widely used in cooking. The scientific name Allium sativum is sometimes given in technical contexts.
にんにくをみじん切りにして炒める。
Mince the garlic and fry it.
この料理にはにんにくが欠かせない。
Garlic is essential for this dish.
Rare single-character kanji form; not commonly used.
Very rare kanji form; almost never encountered in modern Japanese.
Loanword from English; used in compound names like ガーリックトースト (garlic toast) but less common than にんにく for the ingredient itself.
The exact derivation is uncertain. The reading にんにく may be a sound shift from an older form; the kanji 大蒜 and 蒜 are Chinese borrowings for the plant.