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味素

Mandarin · pinyin wèi sù

monosodium glutamate (MSG)

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味: wèi · taste, smell, odor; delicacy
素: sù · white (silk); plain; vegetarian; formerly; normally

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · wei4 su4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mei6 sou3

Cantonese word readings for 味素. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun · Etymology 1

(chiefly Hakka, Eastern Min, Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien, Teochew) monosodium glutamate

noun · Etymology 2

(Jin, Southern Min, Central Min, Puxian Min) taste
(dialectal Mandarin, Jin, Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien, Teochew) smell
(Teochew) temperament

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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