שומשום

Hebrew

Etymology
Root
שׁ־מ־שׁ־ם‎ (š-m-š-m)

Ultimately from Old Aramaic שושמא‎ (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא‎ (šumššemā), from Akkadian 𒃻𒈦𒌑𒈬 (/⁠šamaššammū⁠/), 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈨 (/⁠šamaššammi⁠/, literally “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌 (/⁠šaman⁠/, “oil”) and 𒌑 (/⁠šammu⁠/, “plant”). Compare with Arabic سِمْسِم‎ (simsim) and Classical Syriac ܫܘܫܡܐ‎ (šūšmāʾ, šuššəmāʾ).

Noun

שומשום / שֻׁמְשֹׁם • (shumshóm) m

  1. (uncountable) sesame

Usage notes
  • While the later variant סוּמְסוּם‎ (súmsum) is indeed pronounced with an s-sound, this word contains the letter shin, not sin, and should therefore be pronounced shumshóm. The variant súmsum is most common in daily speech.

Synonyms

References
  • “שומשום” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading
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