Japanese

Alternative forms

• ウニ (more often used except Japanese restaurant. in science, must.)
• 海胆 (also often used.)

Noun

雲丹 ‎(hiragana うに, katakana ウニ, romaji uni)

1. the food made from the roe of sea urchin, hurcheon

Usage notes

When written in kanji, this form is used to indicate the food made from the roe of the sea animal, and the other kanji forms refer to the animal itself, rather like the distinction between the words cow and beef in English. As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as ウニ.

References

1. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3