kombu

Syllables: kom·bu/ˈkɒmbuː/

kombu noun: edible kelp (“a type of brown seaweed”) (from the class Phaeophyceae) used in East Asian cuisine.

Image: Andres Rodriguez, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

kombu (uncountable)

Edible kelp (“a type of brown seaweed”) (from the class Phaeophyceae) used in East Asian cuisine.
- [T]he productions of Jeso, in particular, are as follows: konbu, or sea-cabbage, birds of prey for hawking, whales and other sea-fish, skins of otters, beavers, seals, and stags, castoreum, gold, silver, adamantine spar.1855, Richard Hildreth, “[Appendix.] Note H. Account of Japan, Chiefly Extracted from Japanese Works. […]”, in Japan as It Was and Is, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company; New York, N.Y....
- The chief occupation along the shore is gathering the seaweed called kombu (something like our kelp, or quite the same), which is sent in such large quantities to China; and a certain amount of fishing is also done. The kombu grows upon submarine rocks, but for drying it a wide, flat space is...1874 December 31, Benj[amin] Smith Lyman, “[Letter to General Horace Capron, Commissioner and Adviser to the Kaitakushi]”, in Horace Capron et al., Reports and Letters to the Kaitakushi, […], Tokyo...

kombu (plural kombus)

பழுப்பு தாண்பாசி

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The kombu grows upon submarine rocks, but for drying it a wide, flat space is needed, and the houses, therefore, are placed along the sandy beaches; and almost every beach however small is occupied.1874 December 31, Benj[amin] Smith Lyman, “[Letter to General Horace Capron, Commissioner and Adviser to the Kaitakushi]”, in Horace Capron...
A kombu or kombu-shiitake stock is also quick and mineral rich and makes a fragrant base for broth or miso soup.1987 January–February, Margaret Lee Braun, “Warming Up with Winter Soups”, in Stephan Bodian, editor, Yoga Journal, number 72, Berkeley...
Although there are many variations, its fundamental ingredients are kombu kelp, dried bonito flakes and water.2006, Yoshihiro Murata, Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto’s Kikunoi Restaurant, Tokyo: Kodansha International, →ISBN, page 161:
It [monosodium glutamate] was discovered in 1908 by a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, who was trying to pinpoint the source of the intense deliciousness of broth made from kombu seaweed.2007 February 18, Fuchsia Dunlop, “China’s true dash of flavor”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN...

alternative form	konbu
plural	kombus

From Japanese 昆布 (こんぶ, konbu).

What does kombu mean?: Kombu means edible kelp (“a type of brown seaweed”) (from the class Phaeophyceae) used in East Asian cuisine.
What is kombu in Tamil?: Kombu in Tamil is பழுப்பு தாண்பாசி. See Kombu meaning in Tamil.
How do you use kombu in a sentence?: The kombu grows upon submarine rocks, but for drying it a wide, flat space is needed, and the houses, therefore, are placed along the sandy beaches; and almost every beach however small is occupied.
What part of speech is kombu?: Kombu is a noun.
How do you pronounce kombu?: Kombu is pronounced /ˈkɒmbuː/ (UK).
What is the plural of kombu?: The plural of kombu is kombus.

Adapted from Wiktionary: kombu (page history and authors); kombu (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-kombu.oga.

Cite this entry: “kombu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kombu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.