General term for noodles, including ramen, udon, soba, and pasta. Often used in compounds like 麺類 (めんるい, noodle dishes) or ラーメン.
昼ごはんに麺を食べた。
I ate noodles for lunch.
この店の麺
Archaic meaning for flour. In modern Japanese, 小麦粉 (こむぎこ) or メリケン粉 are used instead. Found only in historical contexts or old texts.
古文書では「麺」が小麦粉を指すことがある。
In old documents, 麺 can refer to wheat flour.
I boiled plenty of water in a pot and cooked the noodles.
The noodles at this shop are firm and chewy.
早く食べないと麺がのびてしまうよ。
You'd better eat quickly or the noodles will go soggy.
He slurped his noodles loudly.
The craftsman makes noodles by hand every morning.
麺類 is the broader term covering all noodle dishes as a category, while 麺 refers to the noodles themselves as an ingredient.
パスタ specifically means Italian-style pasta, whereas 麺 is the general word covering pasta, ramen, udon, and soba alike.
麺 is the native Japanese term for noodles, used broadly for Asian-style noodles like ramen or udon, while ヌードル is a loanword often tied to Western-style or instant noodles.
ramen; Chinese-style noodles
noodles; vermicelli
sōmen; fine white noodles
menma; seasoned bamboo shoots
Chinese-style stir-fried vegetable noodle soup
dried noodles
cup noodles; instant noodles in a cup
rolling pin
cold noodles (Korean-style) · chilled Chinese noodles · cold Chinese noodles with dipping soup
Standard modern kanji for noodles.
Outdated kanji form; still seen in older texts or traditional restaurant signs.
Rarely used kanji form.
The kanji 麺 is a simplified form of 麵, which originally referred to wheat flour and later to noodles made from it. The reading めん is the on'yomi.
egg noodles
egg noodles
thick noodles; thick pasta
flat noodles; ribbon pasta
banmian; Chinese-style mixed noodles
horse chestnut noodles
uumen noodles; Miyagi-style sōmen without added oil
chow mein; fried noodles
fried noodles