메밀

Korean

Alternative forms

모밀 (momil) (informal)

Etymology

From Middle Korean 모밇 (Yale: mwomilh), probably 뫃 (Yale: mwoh, “edge, spike”) + 밇 (Yale: milh, “wheat”), in reference to the shape of the seeds; compare English buckwheat. First attested in Sinicized form in the 1260s as 木麥 / 木麦, where 木 appears to be an ateji. First attested in Hangul form in 1518.

Reanalyzed in the nineteenth or early twentieth century as being equivalent to 메 (me, “wild; non-glutinous”)— + 밀 (mil, “wheat”); when Korean was standardized in the 1930s, the innovative form was chosen as standard.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [me̞miɭ]
Phonetic hangul: [메밀]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	memil
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	memil
McCune–Reischauer^?	memil
Yale Romanization^?	meymil

South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 메밀의 / 메밀에 / 메밀까지
Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the second syllable, except before consonant-initial multisyllabic suffixes, when it takes full low pitch.

Noun

메밀 • (memil)

buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum

Synonyms

교맥 (蕎麥, gyomaek)
목맥 (木麥, mongmaek)

Derived terms

메밀가루 (memilgaru, “buckwheat flour”)
메밀나깨 (memillakkae, “buckwheat hull”)
메밀국수 (memilguksu, “buckwheat noodle”)
메밀묵 (memilmuk, “buckwheat jelly”)