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料理
ryōri
cooking
母は毎日料理をします。
My mother cooks every day.
formal
The act or skill of preparing food by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients.
日本料理は世界的に人気があります。
Japanese cooking is popular worldwide.
彼女は料理が得意です。
She is good at cooking.
料理 can also refer to a dish or meal itself, especially in compound words like 和食料理 (Japanese cuisine).
formal
A dish or meal prepared in a particular way.
このレストランの料理はとても美味しいです。
The dishes at this restaurant are very delicious.
In this sense, 料理 is often used as a suffix in compound words (e.g., 焼き鳥料理 = yakitori dish).
Pro Tip
Distinguish between cooking and cuisine
料理 refers to the act of cooking or a specific dish, while 料理法 (ryōri-hō) means 'cooking method' and 料理人 (ryōri-nin) means 'chef.'
Word Origin
From Middle Chinese 料理 (liàolǐ, “to arrange, to manage; cuisine”). The character 料 means 'to measure' or 'to arrange,' and 理 means 'reason' or 'principle,' together implying the skillful arrangement of ingredients.
Usage Notes
料理 is a broad term that can refer to both the act of cooking and the resulting dish. In casual speech, it may also be used to mean 'meal' (e.g., 今日の料理は何ですか？ = 'What's for dinner today?').
Word Breakdown
料
to measure, to arrange
kanji root理
reason, principle, logic
kanji root和英辞典