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sesame

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ses⋅a⋅me

  [ses-uh-mee]
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–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 ssamon sesame seed
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ses·a·me   (sěs'ə-mē)   


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n.   In both senses also called benne, til1.

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

  2. The seed of this plant.


[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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Word Origin & History

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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Medical Dictionary

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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