Standard Lemma guide

tempeh

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈtɛmpeɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An Indonesian food made from partially-cooked soybeans fermented by a fungus (either Rhizopus oligosporus or Rhizopus oryzae).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Indonesian tempe, from Malay tempe, possibly from Old Javanese tumpi (“a food made from starch and tempeh”), or Malay tapai (“fermentation”).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 丹貝 /丹贝 (dānbèi) — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Chinese Mandarin: 天貝 /天贝 (tiānbèi) — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Dutch: tempé — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Dutch: sojakoek — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Esperanto: tempeo — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Finnish: tempe — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • French: tempeh — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • German: Tempeh — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Indonesian: tempe — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Japanese: テンペ (tenpe) — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Korean: 템페 (tempe) — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Malay: tempe — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Polish: tempeh — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Spanish: tempeh — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans
  • Thai: เต็มเป (dtem-bpee) — food made from partially cooked, fermented soybeans