means Thinly sliced raw fish or seafood, served without rice, often with soy sauce, wasabi, and garnishes.

from From Japanese 刺身 (sashimi), combining sashi 'to pierce or stab' and mi 'body' or 'flesh' — literally 'pierced flesh.' One traditional explanation is that the fish's fin or tail was pinned to the sliced meat to show which species it was, since the cut fillet gives little away. Another holds that 'cut' (切る kiru) was avoided as an unlucky word, especially in the warrior class, so the gentler 'pierce' was preferred.