[Japanese, mi, flavor (from Early Middle Chinese muj^h; also the source of Mandarin wèi) + rin, variant reading of the kanji for ran, to remove the astringency of persimmons by soaking in rice wine (from Middle Chinese lam´) due to misreading as rin, to strain, filter (from Middle Chinese lim`) because of the two terms' similarity in meaning and the resemblance of their kanji .]