shiitake

Where does the word "shiitake" come from? It comes from Japanese shiitake, and was adopted directly into English (1970s).

Shiitake’s story begins in Japanese: shiitake meant “a mushroom grown on shii tree logs.” Named for the shii tree on whose logs the mushroom is traditionally cultivated. It reached English by 1970s as shiitake. Japanese 'shii' tree mushroom; cultivated on logs in Japan for centuries. Today, shiitake means an edible mushroom widely used in East Asian cooking.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · medieval shiitake "a mushroom grown on shii tree logs", named for the shii tree on whose logs the mushroom is traditionally cultivated.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1970s shiitake "an edible mushroom used widely in East Asian cooking", Japanese 'shii' tree mushroom; cultivated on logs in Japan for centuries.