kimchi
noun
kimchi is spelled K-I-M-C-H-I: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kimchi means “A Korean dish made of vegetables, such as cabbage or radishes, that are salted, seasoned, and stored in sealed containers to undergo lactic acid…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kimchi is kimchis.
How many letters and syllables are in kimchi?
| Letters | 6: K-I-M-C-H-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,320th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is kimchi?
Kimchi appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce kimchi?
- Australia
Kimchi has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-kimchi.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kimchi
- kimchis plural
- kimchee
- kim chee
- gimchee
- gimchi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kimchi mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
derogatoryslangA Korean person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Kimchi in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Korean dish:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does kimchi come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).