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Sesame - 5 dictionary results
ses⋅a⋅me
[ses-uh-mee] 
–noun
| 1. | a tropical, herbaceous plant, Sesamum indicum, whose small oval seeds are edible and yield an oil. |
| 2. | the seeds themselves, used to add flavor to bread, crackers, etc. |
| 3. | open sesame. |
Also called benne (for defs. 1, 2).
Origin:
1400–50; < Gk sēsámē sesame plant ≪ Akkadian shamashshammū, derived from shaman shammī plant oil; r. sesam, late ME sysane < L sēsamum < Gk s
samon sesame seed
1400–50; < Gk sēsámē sesame plant ≪ Akkadian shamashshammū, derived from shaman shammī plant oil; r. sesam, late ME sysane < L sēsamum < Gk s
samon sesame seed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Sesame
ses·a·me (sěs'ə-mē)  (click for larger image in new window) n. In both senses also called benne, til1.
[Middle English sisamie, from Latin sēsamum, from Greek sēsamē, sēsamon, probably ultimately from Akkadian šamaššammū : šamnu, oil; see šmn in Semitic roots + šammu, plant; see šmm in Semitic roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sesame
Ses"a*me\, n. [L. sesamum, sesama, Gr. ????, ???: cf. F. s['e]same.] (Bot.) Either of two annual herbaceous plants of the genus Sesamum (S. Indicum, and S. orientale), from the seeds of which an oil is expressed; also, the small obovate, flattish seeds of these plants, sometimes used as food. See Benne. Open Sesame, the magical command which opened the door of the robber's den in the Arabian Nights' tale of "The Forty Thieves;" hence, a magical password. Sesame grass. (Bot.) Same as Gama grass.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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sesame
c.1440, probably from M.Fr. sisame, from L. sesamum (nom. sesama), from Gk. sesamon (Doric sasamon) "seed or fruit of the sesame plant," via Phoenician from Late Babylonian *shawash-shammu (cf. Assyrian shamash-shammu "sesame," lit. "oil-seed"). First as a magic password in 1785 translation of Galland's "Mille et une nuits," where it opens the door of the thieves' den in "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves." Phrase open sesame current since about 1826.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ses·a·me
Pronunciation: 'ses-&-mE also 'sez-
Function: noun
: an East Indian annual erect herb (Sesamum indicumof the family Pedaliaceae); also : its small somewhat flat seeds used as a source of sesame oil and a flavoring agent
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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