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ラーメン Japanese meaning | Kotomora

ラーメン

also: らーめん

ラ

ー

メ

ン

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

noun

ramen; Chinese-style noodles

usually written using kana alone

Refers to the Japanese adaptation of Chinese pulled noodles, typically served in a meat or fish broth with toppings.

from Chinese lāmiàn

今日きょうの昼ひるごはんはラーメンにしよう。
Let's have ramen for lunch today.
この店みせのラーメン

は

スープ

が

濃のう

厚こう

で

おいしい

。

The ramen at this shop has a rich, delicious broth.

Written forms

ラーメンUsage95%
Standard katakana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
らーめんUsage4%
irregular kana usage
Hiragana variant with irregular long vowel; seen in some shop signs and casual writing.
拉麺らーめんUsage1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form using the Chinese characters for 'pulled noodles'; not commonly used.
老麺らーめんUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form; almost never used in modern Japanese.
らあめんUsage<1%
search-only kana form

Kanji

拉Latin, kidnap, crush
麺noodles, wheat flour
老old man, old age, grow old

Similar words

中ちゅう華かそば
An older term for ramen, literally 'Chinese noodles', now less common and sometimes used for a specific style.
つけ麺めん
A style where noodles are served separately and dipped into a concentrated broth, distinct from standard ramen.

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 拉麺 (lāmiàn, 'pulled noodles'), adapted into Japanese as ラーメン. The exact path of introduction is uncertain, but it became widely popular in Japan during the 20th century.