Meanings
plural poppadoms
- A thin, crisp Indian food made from lentil flour, optionally spiced or flavoured in various ways and either grilled or deep-fried, which may be eaten on its own as a snack, with chutneys as a starter, or as an accompaniment to a meal.
Gerry ordered poppadoms and parathas and then he was interrupted by requests for vindaloos, chicken madrases and sag joshes, rice, raita and nan, from Priest, Morgan and Maria Grazia.
2002, Desmond Barry, A Bloody Good Friday, page 157Synonyms: appalam
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA thin, crisp Indian food made from lentil flour, optionally spiced or flavoured in various ways and either grilled or deep-fried, which may be eaten on its own as a snack, with chutneys as a starter, or as an accompaniment to a meal.
Origin
- Sanskritपर्पट
- Tamilபப்படம்
- Englishpoppadom
Borrowed from Tamil பப்படம் (pappaṭam), from Sanskrit पर्पट (parpaṭa). Although the word began to be attested in English in the 1860s, shortly after the establishment of the British Raj, it only came into consistent use around 1940, after which all of the forms indicated above as common have remained in use. Doublet of papad.
More words from Tamil, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali পাঁপড়
- পাঁপড় (pãpoṛ)food
Hindi पापड़
- पापड़ (pāpaṛ)food
Punjabi ਪਾਪੜ
- ਪਾਪੜ (pāpaṛ)food
Swedish papadambröd
- papadambrödfood
Tamil பப்படம், அப்பளம்
- பப்படம் (pappaṭam)food
- அப்பளம் (appaḷam)food
Urdu پاپَڑ
- پاپَڑ (pāpaṛ)food
Cite this entry
poppadom. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poppadom
“poppadom.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poppadom. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poppadom,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poppadom.
Source: poppadom on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.