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Words Kanji Guides About

にし Japanese meaning | Kotomora

にし

に

し

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

small spiral-shelled snail; spiral shellfish

usually written using kana alone

Refers to various small marine snails with spiral shells, often used in cooking. The term is somewhat generic and may cover different species.

潮しお干ひ狩がりでにしをたくさん拾ひろった。
I picked up a lot of small spiral-shelled snails while clam digging.
このにしは味み噌そ汁しるに入いれると美味おいしい。
These small snails are delicious when added to miso soup.

Written forms

螺Usage57%
- にし
  Rare kanji spelling; the reading ら is also possible but even less common.
- ら

ら

Usage39%

辛に螺しUsage4%

Rare kanji spelling; literally 'spicy snail', but used for the same shellfish.

ニシ

kana-only spelling

Katakana spelling, sometimes used in biological or culinary contexts.

Kanji

螺small, edible, helical fresh-water mollusk
辛spicy, bitter, hot

Similar words

さざえ
さざえ (turban shell) is a larger, more well-known edible sea snail with a distinct spiky shell, while にし refers to smaller spiral-shelled snails.
つぶ
つぶ (whelk) is another edible sea snail, often larger and with a thicker shell, commonly eaten as sashimi or grilled.

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. The word may be related to the spiral shape, but no clear derivation is known.