Sushi is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice (鮨飯 sushi-meshi?) combined with other ingredients (ネタ neta?), usually raw fish or other seafood. Ingredients and forms of sushi presentation vary widely, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is vinegared rice. The vinegared rice is also referred to as shari (しゃり?) and sumeshi (酢飯?). Raw meat (usually but not necessarily seafood) sliced and served by itself is sashimi. Many non-Japanese use the terms sashimi and sushi interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. Sushi refers to any dish made with vinegared rice.
