Kimchee
/ˈkɪm.tʃi/noun
A spicy Korean dish of fermented vegetables, especially napa cabbage and radish.
Did you know?Early kimchi was not necessarily spicy: chili peppers reached Korea only after the Columbian Exchange, while older versions used salting, fermentation, and ingredients such as garlic and fish sauce.
Etymological Timeline
Middle Korean, 15th–16th Century
Middle Korean
딤ᄎᆡ (dimchɨ)
“An early recorded form associated with salted or fermented vegetables; its exact derivation remains debated.”
16th–17th Century
Korean
팀ᄎᆡ (timchɨ)
“A later historical form showing the sound changes that preceded the modern name.”
17th–18th Century
Korean
침채 (chimchae)
“A form traditionally connected with the Sino-Korean expression for vegetables preserved in brine, though scholars debate how directly this explains the word’s origin.”
19th Century
Korean
김치 (gimchi/kimchi)
“The modern Korean form of the name for fermented vegetable preparations.”
20th Century
English
kimchi, kimchee
“English loanwords for the Korean fermented vegetable dish; “kimchee” is an established spelling variant.”