Utsuri
/ʊtˈsʊəri/noun
A variety of ornamental koi characterized by a dark body marked with contrasting white, red, or yellow patterns.
Did you know?The koi term comes from Japanese utsuri, related to the verb utsuru, meaning “to move, shift, be reflected, or appear”—ideas closely tied to change and impermanence in Japanese aesthetics.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Japonic
Japanese
*usur-
“To shift, transfer, or undergo change; reconstructed ancestral root”
Old Japanese
Old Japanese
utsuru
“To move, change, pass over, or be reflected”
Classical Japanese
Japanese
移り (utsuri)
“A change, transition, transfer, or reflection”
20th Century
Japanese
うつり (utsuri)
“A pattern or visible transition; applied to contrasting markings in ornamental koi”
Modern English
English
utsuri
“A named koi variety, especially black koi with contrasting colored markings”
Explore more surprising origins