ニシン

ニ

シ

ン

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

Pacific herring

usually written using kana alone

Common fish in Japanese cuisine; often eaten as 数の子 (kazunoko, herring roe) or dried as 身欠きニシン (migaki nishin).

ニシンUsage58%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this fish name; usually written in kana.
にしんUsage19%
Hiragana spelling is also common.
鰊Usage19%
- にしん
  Rare kanji form; the reading かど is also recorded for this kanji but is not the usual reading.
- かど
鯡にしんUsage5%
Rare kanji form.
かど

The Japanese word ニシン is of uncertain origin. It may be related to the Ainu word for herring, but the exact derivation is unclear.