The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e. "刺身 = sashimi, where 刺し = sashi (pierced, stuck) and 身 = mi (body, meat). This word dates from the Muromachi period, and was possibly coined when the word "切る = kiru (cut), the culinary step, was considered too inauspicious to be used by anyone other than samurai.[citation needed] This word may derive from the culinary practice of sticking the fish's tail and fin to the slices in identifying the fish being eaten.