shiitake
/ʃɪˈtɑkeɪ/noun
shiitake is spelled S-H-I-I-T-A-K-E: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shiitake means “A wide, brown variety of edible mushroom, Lentinula edodes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shiitake is shiitakes.
How many letters and syllables are in shiitake?
| Letters | 8: S-H-I-I-T-A-K-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is shiitake?
Shiitake appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th 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 shiitake?
- UK /ʃiːˈtɑːkeɪ/
- UK /ʃɪˈtɑːkeɪ/
- US /ʃɪˈtɑkeɪ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-shiitake.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shiitake
- shiitakes plural
- shitake
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shiitake mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A wide, brown variety of edible mushroom, Lentinula edodes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shiitake in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Lentinula edodes, an edible mushroom:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lentin du chêne, shiitake, shiitaké, shitake, shitaké, champignon parfumé |
| German | Shiitake |
| Portuguese | shiitake, shitake |
| Spanish | shiitake, shitake, hongo del árbol shii |
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 shiitake come from?
Borrowed from Japanese 椎茸 (shītake), from 椎 (shī, “a shii or chinquapin tree”) + 茸 (take, “a mushroom”), from the way the mushrooms tend to grow on chinquapin logs. First cited in English in 1877.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).