שומשום

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
שׁ־מ־שׁ־ם (sh-m-sh-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

• סוּמְסוּם (súmsum)

References

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

Further reading

• שומשום on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he