How to say "meat" in Japanese

• ミートCommon
  nounThe katakana loanword from English. You meet it on menus and in Western-style dish names, but it is seldom the word you want for meat in ordinary conversation — say 肉 instead.
• 食肉しょくにくCommon
  nounMeat as a product for human consumption. This is the term you encounter in the food industry, commerce and official contexts; in everyday conversation about food, 肉 is the natural choice.
• 肉にくJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounThe everyday word for meat. Use it in ordinary talk and cooking — shopping, recipes, meals; unless you are dealing with the food industry or a Western-style menu, this is the word you want.
  その魚さかなと肉にくを冷凍れいとうしてください。↗

  Please freeze the fish and meat.

Use 肉 for meat in everyday speech and cooking; 食肉 is the food-industry term for meat as a product for consumption; 「ミート」 is the katakana loanword, found mainly on Western-style menus.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ミートmeat
• 食肉しょくにくmeat (for consumption)
• 肉ししflesh (esp. of an animal)
• 畜肉ちくにくmeat (of domesticated animals)
• 肉類にくるい(kinds of) meat
• 精肉せいにく(good quality) meat
• 肉にくmeat
• 身みmain part