# shiitake

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃiːˈtɑːkeɪ/ · frequency rank #78,119

## Definitions
1. A wide, brown variety of edible mushroom, Lentinula edodes.

## Etymology
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
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shiitake