dim sum

Etymology

It is borrowed from Cantonese 點心 (dím sām, “light refreshments, pastry”),^[2][3][4] corresponding to Mandarin 點心 (diǎnxīn),^[2][3][5] a word already found in Middle Chinese.^[2][3] It is formed from 點 (dím, “dot, speck”) and 心 (sām, “heart”);^[4][6][7][5] Etymonline says it is said to mean literally "touch the heart".^[8] The American Heritage Dictionary traces the word for heart to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sam or *sem.^[3] English spellings with t- (“tim sum”) reflect how English speakers heard the Cantonese initial, which does not contrast voiced and voiceless sounds.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A meal or dish of small savoury dumplings and buns: the OED's first record is from the Washington Post of 16 October 1894.^[2] An 1874 report from San Francisco already lists Tim Sim, sweetmeats, among appetizers.^[2] Other dictionaries date the word later: Etymonline about 1930, in a Chinese teahouse where it is translated "cakes",^[8] Merriam-Webster 1948,^[4] and Dictionary.com 1965–70.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In English the word names the whole Cantonese meal of small dishes, such as steamed or fried dumplings, steamed buns and rice balls,^[4][2] and in Australian English it is the food offered at a yum cha.^[9] In Australia the variant dim sim has come to mean a single small roll of seasoned meat in thin dough, steamed or fried.^[10][9]

Timeline

• 1874 – Tim Sim, sweetmeats, in a San Francisco newspaper.^[2]
• 1894 – a light meal of small dumplings and buns, in the Washington Post.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1948.^[4]
• c. 1930 – translated as "cakes" in a Chinese teahouse.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Chinese, especially Cantonese, meal or dish of small portions of food, such as steamed or fried dumplings, buns and pieces of meat, often eaten as a late breakfast or lunch with tea: On Sundays they meet friends for dim sum.^[4][2][7]
2. One of the small items served in such a meal.^[4][11]

Related words

• yum cha
• dim sim

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b The Macquarie Dictionary (2013), 6th ed., Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers
10. ^ Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004), The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins