English
konjac
Konjac comes from Japanese 蒟蒻.
- Japanesemodern蒟蒻
- Englishearliest quotation 2019konjac
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Japanesemodern蒟蒻
- Englishearliest quotation 2019konjac
Earliest quotation: 2019, Rebecca Smithers, Something smells fishy. Is it the vegan smoked salmon – made: “Waitrose buyers are predicting the growing popularity of konjac,…”
The story
The Japanese term probably derives from Old Japanese, in turn from Middle Chinese 蒟蒻 (MC kjuX|kjuH nyak). The plant is not native to the Japanese archipelago, and was imported from China.
Every English word from Japanese 蒟蒻
Today it means
noun A foul-smelling plant grown in Asia, Amorphophallus konjac.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Japanese 蒟蒻 / konjac