Tteok
/t͈ʌk/noun
A Korean rice cake made from steamed or pounded rice flour, often served sweet or savory.
Did you know?In Korea, white garaetteok has traditionally symbolized purity and longevity, while making and sharing tteok has accompanied weddings, birthdays, harvests, and other rites of passage.
Etymological Timeline
Early Korean
Korean
ᄠᅥᆨ
“An early written form associated with rice cake; the precise earliest origin of the word is uncertain.”
Middle Korean
Middle Korean
ᄠᅥᆨ / ttŏk
“Rice cake or a food made from rice, represented in historical Korean writing.”
Pre-modern Korean
Korean
떡
“A broad traditional category of steamed, pounded, boiled, or pan-cooked rice cakes.”
20th Century
Korean
tteok
“The revised Romanization of 떡, using doubled t to represent its tense initial consonant.”
Modern English
English
tteok
“An English loanword for Korean rice cakes, especially in discussions of Korean cuisine and culture.”
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