昆布

From earlier 綸布 (OC *kruːn paːs, “green ribbon + cloth”), due to the resemblance in appearance (Erya).

昆布

1. (often in traditional Chinese medicine) seaweed; kelp; laminara; ecklonia

• 海藻 (hǎizǎo)

昆布

1. Khumbu (a region of Nepal)

• 坤布

First cited to a record in the Shoku Nihongi, written 715 CE.^[1]

Theories include:

• From Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”).^[1]
• From Ainu,^[1][2][3] possibly via Ainu コムブ (kombu, “a brown seaweed, Laminaria^[4]”),^[3][5] which may also be borrowed from Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”).

The early date of first citation, and the existence already in 715 of the kanji spelling 昆布, seems to make a Chinese derivation more likely. See the Wikipedia article about kombu for additional etymology details.

Cognates among the Ryukyuan languages include Kunigami 昆布 (kubū), Okinawan 昆布 (kūbu), Southern Amami Ōshima 昆布 (kubu), Miyako 昆布 (kubu), and Yaeyama 昆布 (kubu).

• (Tokyo) こんぶ (Atamadaka – )^[6]
• IPA^(key):

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

コンブ

Wikipedia ^ja

昆(こん)布(ぶ) or 昆布(コンブ) • (konbu) 

1. kombu, kelp, tangle, laminara

   昆(こん)布(ぶ)の熨斗(のし) ― konbu no noshi ― kombu noshi

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as コンブ.

• (Tokyo) こぶ (Atamadaka – )^[6][7]
• IPA^(key):

昆(こ)布(ぶ) • (kobu) 

1. same as above

• 昆布締(こぶじ)め (kobujime)

• 広布(ひろめ) (hirome)
• えびすめ (ebisume)