肉
にく
hepburn niku
meat
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 牛肉が好きです。I like beef.
- 今日は肉を食べません。I won't eat meat today.
Collocations
肉 (niku, meat)牛肉 (gyuuniku, beef)豚肉 (butaniku, pork)鶏肉 (toriniku, chicken)焼肉 (yakiniku, grilled meat — Korean-style BBQ)
Mnemonic
肉 niku — noun "meat". Animal + 肉 compounds branch by species: 牛肉 (gyuuniku, beef), 豚肉 (butaniku, pork), 鶏肉 (toriniku, chicken — kun reading とり, not the onyomi けい). 焼肉 (yakiniku) means Korean-style grilled BBQ in Japan — vocabulary attesting Zainichi Korean culinary integration. Onyomi にく (niku): 肉体 (nikutai, body), 筋肉 (kinniku, muscle), 肉親 (nikushin, blood relative). Kanji 肉 originally pictured a rib-cut cross-section; its radical form mimics 月 (moon) but is distinct — most "body" kanji (腕, 脳, 胃) take the 肉-radical despite the moon resemblance.
Quick check
What style of food does 焼肉 refer to in Japan?