Standard Lemma guide

wagyu

noun · 2 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈwæɡ.juː/
  • /ˈwɑːɡ.juː/
  • nonstandard: /ˈwæ.ɡuː/
  • nonstandard: /ˈwɑːɡuː/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of several Japanese breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Beef from such cattle.

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 Japanese 和(わ)牛(ぎゅう) (wagyū), from Middle Chinese 和 (MC hwa, “a gloss for 倭 (MC 'wa, “Japan”)”) + 牛 (MC ngjuw, “cow”).

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: واقيو (wāgyu) — breed of cattle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 和牛 (héniú) — breed of cattle
  • Esperanto: vagjuo — breed of cattle
  • Japanese: 和牛 (wagyū) — breed of cattle
  • Korean: 와규 (wagyu) — breed of cattle
  • Russian: ва́гю (vágju) — breed of cattle