Etymology

masala

M3A1S1A1L1A1

Today it means: Any of many blends of spices used in Indian cuisine, most often containing cardamom, coriander, mace together with pepper, nutmeg, fennel seeds, jeera etc. Full definition →

Hindustani ← Classical Persian مَصَالِح
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The story

  1. Classical Persian · derived fromمَصَالِح“materials”
  2. Hindustani · borrowed from
  3. English todaymasala

Borrowed from Hindustani मसाला / مصالحہ (masālā, “spices, affairs, masala”), from Classical Persian مَصَالِح (masālih, “materials”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.