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.
I ate noodles for lunch.
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.
I boiled plenty of water in a pot and cooked the noodles.
この店の麺はコシが強い。
The noodles at this shop are firm and chewy.
In old documents, 麺 can refer to wheat flour.
You'd better eat quickly or the noodles will go soggy.
He slurped his noodles loudly.
The craftsman makes noodles by hand every morning.
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Outdated kanji form; still seen in older texts or traditional restaurant signs.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