salep
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French salep, from Turkish salep, from Arabic سَحْلَب (saḥlab, “type of orchid”).[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Arabic word is said to be a contraction of خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, “fox testicles”) (الثَعْلَب (aṯ-ṯaʿlab, “fox”) + خُصًى (ḵuṣan, “testicles”)), referring to the testicle-like root tubers.[2]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈsæləp/
- Hyphenation: sa‧lep
Noun
salep (countable and uncountable, plural saleps)
- A starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as the early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula).
- 1800, Erasmus Darwin, “Sect. XI. Of Draining and Watering Lands.”, in Phytologia: Or The Philosophy of Agricuture and Gardening. With the Theory of Draining Morasses and with an Improved Construction of the Drill Plough, Dublin: Printed for P. Byrne, 108, Grafton-Street, OCLC 941833168, section XI.2.4.5, page 245:
- Where finally the draining of marſhy grounds can not be effected at a reſponſible expence, ſome plants may perhaps be cultivated with profit to the cultivator; as in ſome ſituations the feſtica fluitans, floating feſcue, callitriche, ſtar-graſs; or in others the orchis for the purpoſe of making ſaloop by drying the peeled roots in an oven.
- 2014 April 5, “Quite interesting: A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week; QI orchids you not”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend), page W22:
- The tubers of one [orchid] species, Orchis mascula, produce a flour called salep, which was made into a drink known as "saloop" in 18th-century London, as an alternative to coffee (Charles Lamb thought it the ideal breakfast for chimney sweeps). Salep is a Turkish word with an even more precise derivation (it's from the Arabic for "fox's testicles"). Despite this, the Turks still use it to make a strange elastic ice cream, eaten with a knife and fork, which carries a pungent aftertaste compared by one commentator to the scent of "goats on a rainy day". Salep ice cream is so popular that O. mascula is now a protected species in Turkey.
-
- Alternative form of saloop (“aromatic drink originally made with salep”)
Alternative forms
- saloop
- salop
Translations
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References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “salep”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “salep”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
salep on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- ALSEP, ELSPA, Lapes, Leaps, Pales, Peals, Slape, e-pals, lapse, leaps, lepas, pales, peals, pleas, sepal, slape, spale
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Turkish salep, from earlier sahlep, from Ottoman Turkish سحلب (sahleb), from Arabic خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, “fox testicles”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sa.lɛp/
Audio (file)
Noun
salep m (plural saleps)
- salep
Further reading
- “salep”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Indonesian
Etymology
From Dutch zalf, from Middle Dutch salve, from Old Dutch salva, from Proto-Germanic *salbō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈsaləp̚]
- Hyphenation: sa‧lêp
Noun
salep (plural salep-salep, first-person possessive salepku, second-person possessive salepmu, third-person possessive salepnya)
- ointment.
Alternative forms
- salap (Standard Malay)
Affixed terms
- menyalep
Compounds
- salep antibiotik
- salep antijamur
- salep antivirus
- salep bibir
Further reading
- “salep” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish سالب (saleb), سحلب (sahleb), from Arabic خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, “fox testicles”).
Noun
salep n (plural salepuri)
- salep
Declension
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) salep | salepul | (niște) salepuri | salepurile |
| genitive/dative | (unui) salep | salepului | (unor) salepuri | salepurilor |
| vocative | salepule | salepurilor | ||