印地安麥 / 印地安麦
yìndì'ān mài
In Mandarin, quinoa is 印地安麥 / 印地安麦 (yìndì'ān mài). Wiktionary also lists 藜麥 / 藜麦 (límài) and 奎藜 (kuílí).
Meaning: Chenopodium quinoa (noun)
Ways to say it
| Mandarin | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 印地安麥 / 印地安麦 | yìndì'ān mài |
| 藜麥 / 藜麦 | límài |
| 奎藜 | kuílí |
| 小小米 | xiǎoxiǎomǐ |
| 灰米 | huīmǐ |
| 昆諾阿藜 / 昆诺阿藜 | kūnnuò'ālí |
The term refers to the plant and seed *Chenopodium quinoa*. 藜麥 / 藜麦 is the most common and standard term used in modern Chinese, particularly when discussing the grain in culinary and nutritional contexts.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 印地安麥 / 印地安麦 literally means 'Indian wheat'.
Which one should you use?
藜麥 / 藜麦 is the most frequently used term in supermarkets and recipes in Mainland China and Taiwan. Other forms include 印地安麥 / 印地安麦, 奎藜, 小小米, 灰米 and 昆諾阿藜 / 昆诺阿藜.
How do you pronounce it?
yìndì'ān mài
Did you know?
- The term 藜麥 uses the character 藜, which refers to a type of wild goosefoot or saltwort that was once used as a famine food in ancient China.
- The form 昆諾阿藜 is a phonetic transliteration of the Spanish pronunciation of 'quinoa', combined with the Chinese botanical term for goosefoot.
- The character 藜 in 藜麥 is the same character used in the word for 'pigweed', a family of plants that are often considered weeds in China.
Example sentences for Mandarin are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “quinoa” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
