Dictionary

kimchi en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 김치 (gimchi), ultimately composed within Korea of Chinese-derived morphemes 沉 (MC drim, “submerged, soaked”) and 菜 (MC tshojH, “vegetable”), i.e. "fermented vegetable". Doublet of kimuchi.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) A Korean dish made of vegetables, such as cabbage or radishes, that are salted, seasoned, and stored in sealed containers to undergo lactic acid fermentation.
   • Despite the stew’s debt to kimchi, you know it has come into its own when it’s served with kimchi as a side dish. 2023 June 29, Violet Kim, “Korean food: 39 dishes we can’t live without”, in CNN:
   • "Yeah." He gestured to the kimchi. "Well, get it in ya, then." "It's better hot." she said. 2019 January 26, Jo Storm, Snowhook, Dundurn, →ISBN:
2. (countable, derogatory, ethnic, slang, slur, usually) A Korean person.
   • ... he doesn't know the difference between Ping-Pongs and Kimchis. 2011, Gerald M. Weinberg, Freshman Murders, Weinberg & Weinberg:
   • In the United States, Germans are sometimes called "krauts" ... Koreans "kimchis," and poor white Southerners "crackers"... 2007, Pamela Goyan Kittler, Kathryn Sucher, Food and Culture, Cengage Learning, page 5:
   • How did I know the kimchis were trying to smuggle the crate out of Japan? 1994, Richard Marcinko, Rogue Warrior II: Red Cell, Pocket Books, page 238:

Forms

Deriveds

kimchi-jjigae · kimslaw

Translations (43)

nv gímchi (Korean dish) · bg ки́мчи (Korean dish) · lv kimči (Korean dish) · ja キムチ (Korean dish) · fi kimchi (Korean dish) · vi kim chi (Korean dish) · hy կիմչի (Korean dish) · de Kimchi (Korean dish) · ko 김치남 (ethnic slur for Koreans) · sv kimchi (Korean dish) · fr kimchi (Korean dish) · cs kimči (Korean dish) · cmn 棒子 (ethnic slur for Koreans) · mk ки́мчи (Korean dish) · acw كِمْتْشي (Korean dish) · pl kimchi (Korean dish) · id kimci (Korean dish) · he קִימְצִ׳י (Korean dish) · pl skośnooki (ethnic slur for Koreans) · cmn 高麗棒子 /高丽棒子 (ethnic slur for Koreans) · ja チョン (ethnic slur for Koreans) · th เกาเหลา (ethnic slur for Koreans) · it kimchi (Korean dish) · yue 泡菜 (Korean dish) · cmn 韓式泡菜 /韩式泡菜 (Korean dish) · pt kimchi (Korean dish) · th เกาหี (ethnic slur for Koreans) · th กิมจิ (Korean dish) · ko 짐치 (Korean dish) · cmn 韓國泡菜 /韩国泡菜 (Korean dish) · km គីមឈី (Korean dish) · pl Koreaniec (ethnic slur for Koreans) · pl Korejczyk (ethnic slur for Koreans) · eo kimĉio (Korean dish) · ko 김치 (Korean dish) · cmn 辛奇 (Korean dish) · ko 짠지 (Korean dish) · ko 김치녀 (ethnic slur for Koreans) · ru кимчи́ (Korean dish) · eo koreaĉo (ethnic slur for Koreans) · cmn 泡菜 (Korean dish) · ru кимчхи́ (Korean dish) · es kimchi (Korean dish)