えび【海老・蝦・蛯・鰕】 : ebi | define meaning

Cognate to Ibaraki えびめ ebime, えびじめ ebijime, いびじめ ibijime, and いんめ inme; Ibaraki and Fukushima いび ibi; Nagasaki いぇび yebi; Kagoshima えぅ eq; Kagoshima (Ibusuki) いぇﾋﾞ yeb; Kikai うぃび・イび ïbi [ʔɪbi]; Amami いぷ・いﾌﾟ ip; Okinoerabu いびー ibii; Kikai, Okinoerabu, Yoron and Okinawan いび ibi; Miyako (Shimoji) ɿbɿ; Miyako ɿbᶻɿ; Yaeyama (Hateruma and Shiraho) いびｽﾞ ibɿ ~ ibz; Yaeyama (Shiraho) いび ibi; Yonaguni いん in and いーん iin; standard Japanese えび【海老】 ebi "shrimp; prawn; lobster; crayfish". Historically attested in the 日葡辞書 Nippo jisho (1603) under the entry yebi "shrimp or lobster".

Original unclear. Several theories exist, including: 餌 "feed/bait" ＋ 尾 "tail"; 枝 "branch" ＋ 鬚 "beard"; 江 "bay" ＋ 鬚 "beard". Compare the Japanese counter for fish and shrimp: び【尾】 bi (e.g. いちび【一尾】 ichibi "one fish, one shrimp"). The -bi ending could also suggest a possible Sinitic origin. Compare Chinese 【蝦米】 "shrimp" (cf. Mandarin xiāmi; Cantonese haa1 mai5; Gan ha1 mi; Hakka hà-mí; Hokkien hê-bí; Teochew hê5 bhi2; Wu ho mi and hoe mi; Xiang xia1 mi3) , borrowed into Tagalog as hibi, Indonesian as ebi, and Khmer as haybii. Compare also Korean 새우 sae'u "shrimp, prawn" (dialectally sawi, saebi, sebi, swebi, ssebi, etc.).