chow mein

English

Chow mein

Alternative forms

• chaomian
• (Hong Kong) chau min

Etymology

Borrowed from Taishanese 炒麵／炒面 (cau² men⁵, “stir-fry noodles”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/
• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /tʃaʊ min/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

chow mein (countable and uncountable, plural chow meins)

1. A westernized Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or seafood.

   Coordinate term: lo mein

   • 2006, “POD (The Pick of Destiny)”, in The Pick of Destiny, performed by Tenacious D:

     Our tasty grooves are better than a chicken chow mein!

2. (India, slang, offensive, countable) A person from Northeast India.
   • 2017 May 23, Alana Golmei, “Let’s talk about racism”, in Hindustan Times‎^[1], Delhi:

     Since I come from the North-eastern part of India myself and belong to a minority race, I too have suffered from racism, at least in its milder forms. I’ve been called "chinky", "momo", "chowmein", and more.

Derived terms

• chow mein bun
• chowmeinery

Translations

Westernised Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or seafood

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 炒麵 / 炒面 (caau² min⁶)

  Hokkien: 炒麵 / 炒面 (zh-min-nan) (chhá-mī)

  Mandarin: 炒麵 / 炒面 (zh) (chǎomiàn)

• Dutch: tjauwmin (nl) m
• Finnish: chow mein
• German: Chow-Mein n
• Hungarian: pirított tészta, sült tészta
• Japanese: 炒麺 (chāmen)
• Portuguese: chow mein m
• Russian: чаомя́нь (čaomjánʹ)
• Spanish: chow mein (es) m
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

References

• “chow mein, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “chow mein”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English chow mein, from Taishanese 炒麵／炒面 (cau²men⁵, “stir-fry noodles”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃaw mɛjn/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

Noun

chow mein m (plural chow meins)

1. chow mein

Portuguese

Noun

chow mein m (uncountable)

1. chow mein (westernised Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or seafood)