umami

American  

[oo-mah-mee] / uˈmɑ mi /

noun

1. a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

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Etymology

Origin of umami

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese: literally, “savory quality, delicious taste,” equivalent to uma-, the inflectional stem of umai “(to be) delicious” + -mi, a suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives

Example Sentences

EUC stands for Equivalent Umami Concentration, which is the umami concentration in a food expressed in mg/100 g.

From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2024

"It's a little of everything, like the Roy G. Biv of flavor. Umami is the full spectrum."

From Salon • Oct. 2, 2022

Umami Kushi runs a counter space inside the Métier Brewing Co. taproom in the Central District, hawking Japanese okazu pans or deep-fried buns stuffed with various fillings from chicken mole to beef curry.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 23, 2022

Umami, like mushrooms and soy sauce, felt bitter, which I still can’t explain.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2022

Umami is a Japanese word that means “delicious taste,” and is often translated to mean savory.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013