engawa

[eng-gah-wah]

noun

1. a floor extension at one side of a Japanese-style house, usually facing a yard or garden and serving as passageway and sitting space.

Word History and Origins

Origin of engawa¹

< Japanese, equivalent to en edge, veranda (< Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese yuán ) + -gawa combining form of kawa (earlier kafa ) side

Example Sentences

The outdoor area is essentially another series of rooms, with a lounge area with a fire pit; a covered patio with a ceiling fan for hot Los Angeles summers; and a slightly raised boardwalk inspired by the Japanese engawa, a type of veranda that serves as a passageway.

From Los Angeles Times

The house was square, with a narrow, covered engawa wrapped around it.

From Literature

Engawa is a fluke’s dense and chewy outer perimeter, the muscular edge that sends the rest of the fish fluttering along the ocean floor.

From New York Times

Also available that day was engawa, a cut of summer flounder taken from the fringes of the fillet, and presented in Osakana’s display case in clean, tight coils. Engawa, too, is a delicacy in Japan, sometimes more esteemed than bluefin toro.

From The New Yorker

The green paste went onto a black plate with strands of cucumber and myoga ginger bulbs and softly folded lengths of sashimi: geoduck, amazingly sweet and nearly orange; a slab of tuna belly run through with fatty streaks that melted moments after touching the tongue; a glittering bit of sardine; and chewy squares of engawa, the powerful muscle that sends a fluke undulating along the ocean floor.

From New York Times