sashimi

Where does the word "sashimi" come from? It comes from Japanese sashi + mi, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).

Sashimi’s story begins in Japanese: sashi + mi meant “pierced flesh.” Combining "sashi" (pierced) and "mi" (flesh). It reached English by 1900s as sashimi. Japanese 'pierced body', possibly because fish tails were stuck in slices to identify them. Today, sashimi means a Japanese dish of thinly sliced raw fish or seafood.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval sashi + mi "pierced flesh", combining "sashi" (pierced) and "mi" (flesh).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1900s sashimi "thinly sliced raw fish or meat", Japanese 'pierced body', possibly because fish tails were stuck in slices to identify them.