sesame

sesame

See also: sésame

English

sesame seeds

Etymology

From Middle English sysame, from Latin sīsamum, sēsamum, from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon), from Aramaic שושמא‎ (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא‎ (šumššumā), from Akkadian 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬 (šamaššammū, “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌𒄑 (šaman, “oil”) and 𒌑 (šammum, “plant”). The modern pronunciation is influenced by Ancient Greek σησάμη (sēsámē), variant of σήσαμον (sḗsamon).[1]

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛsəmi/, /ˈsɛz-/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛsəmi/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛsəm/, /ˈsiːsəm/[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛsəmɪ
• Hyphenation: ses‧a‧me

Noun

sesame (countable and uncountable, plural sesames)

1. A tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil.

   Synonyms: beniseed, gingelly

2. The seed of this plant.
   • 2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi; Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook‎, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:

     First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

   Synonym: sesame seed

Derived terms

• open sesame
• sesame grass

Translations

plant

Afar: simsím m Arabic: سِمْسِم‎ m (simsim) Armenian: շուշմա (hy) (šušma), քնջութ (hy) (kʿnǰutʿ) Assamese: তিল (til) Bengali: তিল (bn) (til) Bulgarian: сусам m (susam) Burmese: နှမ်း (my) (hnam:) Buryat: гүнжэд (günžed) Catalan: sèsam m Chinese: Mandarin: 芝麻 (zh) (zhīma), 胡麻 (zh) (húmá) Danish: sesam (da) c Daur: bal (black), cigaa bal (white) Dutch: sesam (nl) c Faroese: sesam n Finnish: seesami (fi) French: sésame (fr) m Galician: sésamo m Georgian: სეზამი (sezami), ქუნჯუტი (kunǯuṭi) German: Sesam (de) m Greek: σουσαμιά (el) f (sousamiá) Ancient: σησάμη f (sēsámē) Hebrew: סומסום‎ (he) (sumsum) Hindi: तिल (hi) m (til), तील (hi) m (tīl), पवित्र (hi) m (pavitra), पितृतर्पण (hi) m (pitŕtarpaṇ), पापघ्न (hi) m (pāpaghna), पूतधान्य (hi) m (pūtdhānya), जटिल (hi) m (jaṭil), स्नेहफल (hi) m (snehphal), तैलफल (hi) m (tailphal), हेमधान्य (hi) m (hemdhānya) Hungarian: szezám (hu) Indonesian: wijen (id), bijan (id), sesam (id) Irish: seasaman m Italian: sesamo (it) m Japanese: 胡麻 (ja) (ごま, goma) Khmer: ល្ង (km) (lngɔɔ) Korean: 참깨 (ko) (chamkkae) Lao: ງາ (ngā) Latin: sēsamum n Macedonian: сусам m (susam) Malay: bijan (ms), lenga Manchu: ᠮᠠᠯᠠᠩᡤᡡ (malanggū) Mon: လ္ၚဴ (mnw) Mongolian: гүнжид (mn) (günžid) Norwegian: Bokmål: sesam m Nynorsk: sesam m Pali: tila n Persian: کنجد‎ (fa) (konjed) Polish: sezam (pl) m Portuguese: sésamo m, gergelim (pt) m Punjabi: ਤਿਲ (pa) m (til) Romanian: susan (ro) m, sesam (ro) m Russian: сеза́м (ru) m (sezám), сим-си́м m (sim-sím), кунжу́т (ru) m (kunžút) Sanskrit: तिल (sa) m (tila) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: сусам m Roman: susam m Shan: ငႃး (shn) (ngáa) Spanish: sésamo (es) m Tagalog: linga Tai Nüa: ᥒᥣᥰ (ngäa) Tajik: кунҷид (tg) (kunjid) Thai: งา (th) (ngaa) Turkish: susam (tr) Urdu: تل‎ m (til) Vietnamese: mè (vi), vừng (vi) Volapük: sesam Welsh: sesame m

seed

Afar: simsím m Arabic: سِمْسِم‎ m (simsim) Armenian: շուշմա (hy) (šušma), քնջութ (hy) (kʿnǰutʿ) Assamese: তিল (til) Azerbaijani: küncüd (az) Bulgarian: сусам m (susam) Burmese: နှမ်းစေ့ (hnam:ce.) Catalan: sèsam m Cebuano: lunga Chinese: Cantonese: 芝麻 (zi1 maa4) Mandarin: 芝麻 (zh) (zhīmá), 脂麻 (zh) (zhīmá), 胡麻 (zh) (húmá), 油麻 (zh) (yóumá) Danish: sesamfrø n, sesam (da) c Dutch: sesam (nl) c, sesamzaad (nl) n Faroese: sesamfræ n Finnish: seesaminsiemen (fi) German: Sesam (de), Sesamsamen Greek: σουσάμι (el) n (sousámi) Ancient: σήσαμον n (sḗsamon) Hebrew: שמשום‎ Hindi: तिल (hi) m (til), तील (hi) m (tīl), पवित्र (hi) m (pavitra), पितृतर्पण (hi) m (pitŕtarpaṇ), पापघ्न (hi) m (pāpaghna), पूतधान्य (hi) m (pūtdhānya), जटिल (hi) m (jaṭil), स्नेहफल (hi) m (snehphal), तैलफल (hi) m (tailphal), हेमधान्य (hi) m (hemdhānya) Hungarian: szezámmag (hu) Japanese: 胡麻 (ja) (ごま, goma) Kannada: ಎಳ್ಳು (kn) (eḷḷu) Kazakh: күнжіт (künjıt) Khmer: ល្ង (km) (lngɔɔ) Korean: 참깨 (ko) (chamkkae) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: کونجی‎ (ku) (kuncî) Kyrgyz: күнжүт (künjüt) Lao: ງາ (ngā) Latin: sēsamum n Macedonian: сусам m (susam) Malay: lenga, bijan (ms) Malayalam: എള്ള് (ml) (eḷḷŭ) Manchu: ᠮᠠᠯᠠᠩᡤᡡ (malanggū) Maranao: lenga Mon: မလ္ၚဴ Norwegian: Bokmål: sesam m, sesamfrø n Nynorsk: sesam m, sesamfrø n Pali: tila n Persian: کنجد‎ (fa) (konjed) Polish: sezam (pl) m Portuguese: sésamo m, gergelim (pt) m Punjabi: ਤਿਲ (pa) m (til) Romanian: susan (ro) m, sesam (ro) m Russian: сеза́м (ru) m (sezám), сим-си́м m (sim-sím), кунжут (ru) m (kunžut) Sanskrit: तिल (sa) m (tila) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: сусам m Roman: susam m Spanish: ajonjolí (es) m Sranan Tongo: abongra Tagalog: linga Tajik: кунҷид (tg) (kunjid) Tamil: எள் (ta) (eḷ) Tausug: lunga Telugu: నువ్వులు (te) (nuvvulu) Thai: งา (th) (ngaa) Tocharian B: kuñcit Tulu: ಎಣ್ಮೆ (eṇme) Turkish: susam (tr) Turkmen: künji Urdu: تل‎ m Uyghur: كۈنجۈت‎ (künjüt) Uzbek: kunjut (uz) Vietnamese: mè (vi), vừng (vi) Volapük: sesamasid, sesamasids

References

1. James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Sesame”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VIII, Part 2 (S–Sh), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 523, column 1.

Anagrams

• EMASes, Emessa, Essame, Maeses, Meases, ameses, meases