うまい

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[1]

The ultimate derivation remains unclear. The term occasionally appears in texts from the Heian period (794–1185 CE) with the phonetic spelling mumashi (in the classical terminal form),[2] suggesting a possible pronunciation of */mmasi/ with an emphasized initial /mm/ sound, similar to the reconstructed readings for 馬 (*mma, “horse”) and 梅 (*mme, “plum”). The resulting reconstructed adjective stem of *mma- could indicate a derivation from onomatopoeia; compare English mmm as an expression of approval for something tasty.

Alternatively, umai is listed in some sources[3] as perhaps deriving from verb 熟む (umu, “to ripen, to become ripe”). There is a derived compound term where the meaning is clearly from the adjective, and the spelling uses the 熟 kanji from the verb. However, the verb does not appear in historical sources with an emphatic initial /mm/, and it seems to be cognate with 膿む (umu, “to fester, to become pussy, to produce pus”, intransitive),[4] possibly also with 生む, 産む (umu, “to bear, to give birth to; to produce”, transitive).

• (Tokyo) うま​い [ùmáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [2])[4][5][6]
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝma̠i]

うまい (-i inflection, rōmaji umai)

1. 上手い, 巧い: good at something, skillful

   君 (きみ)の日 (に)本 (ほん)語 (ご)がうまいな。

   Kimi no nihongo ga umai na.

   Your Japanese is good.

   彼 (かれ)はテニスがうまい。

   Kare wa tenisu ga umai.

   He's good at tennis.

   Synonym: 上手 (jōzu)

2. 美味い, 旨い, 甘い: delicious, tasty

   飯 (めし)がうまい。

   Meshi ga umai.

   The meal is delicious.

   Synonym: 美味しい (oishii)

3. 旨い: favorable, preferable, good

   うまいタイミングで訪 (ほう)問 (もん)する

   umai taimingu de hōmon suru

   to visit at a good time

   Synonyms: 好ましい (konomashii), 良い (ii)

4. 旨い: profitable

   株 (かぶ)式 (しき)仲 (なか)買 (がい)人 (にん)とはうまい仕 (し)事 (ごと)ですよ。

   Kabushikinakagainin to wa umai shigoto desu yo.

   Being a stockbroker is profitable work.

5. (uncommon) 旨い: thoughtless, foolish, lackadaisical, slipshod, short-sighted

   Synonyms: 甘い (amai) (more common), 愚か (oroka), 浅はか (asahaka)

This term is more common in masculine speech, and may have more casual connotations. The common gender-neutral and polite term for the skillful sense is 上手 (jōzu), and for the delicious sense, 美味しい (oishii).[2][7]