Meanings
plural sesames · alternative sesamé · alternative sesamë
- countableuncountableThe seed of this plant.
First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.
2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Random House, →ISBN, page 79Synonyms: sesame seed
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil.
nounThe seed of this plant.
More synonyms by meaning
nounEast Indian annual erect herb; source of sesame seed or benniseed and sesame oil
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Greekσησάμη
- Akkadian𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬“oil plant”
- Aramaicשושמא
- Ancient Greekσήσαμον
- Latinsīsamum
- Middle Englishsisamie
- Englishsesame
From late Middle English sisamie, from Latin sīsamum, sēsamum, from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon), from Aramaic שושמא (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא (šumššumā), from Akkadian 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬 (šamaššammū, “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌𒄑 (šaman, “oil”) and 𒌑 (šammum, “plant”). The modern pronunciation is perhaps influenced by (transliterations of) Greek σησάμη (sisámi). Doublet of sesamum.
More words from Middle English, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σήσαμον, σησάμη
- σήσαμον (sḗsamon)seed
- σησάμη (sēsámē)plant
Arabic سِمْسِم, جُلْجُلان
- سِمْسِم (simsim)seed
- جُلْجُلان (juljulān)seed
- سِمْسِم (simsim)plant
Bengali তিল
- তিল (til)plant
Bulgarian сусам, сусам
- сусам (susam)seed
- сусам (susam)plant
Catalan sèsam, sèsam
- sèsamseed
- sèsamplant
Chinese Cantonese 芝麻, 芝麻
- 芝麻 (zi¹ maa⁴)seed
- 芝麻 (zi¹ maa⁴)plant
Chinese Mandarin 芝麻, 脂麻
- 芝麻 (zhīmá)seed
- 脂麻 (zhīmá)seed
- 胡麻 (húmá)seed
- 油麻 (yóumá)seed
- 芝麻 (zhīmá)plant
- 胡麻 (húmá)plant
Danish sesamfrø, sesam
- sesamfrøseed
- sesamseed
- sesamplant
Dutch sesam, sesamzaad
- sesamseed
- sesamzaadseed
- sesamplant
Finnish seesaminsiemen, seesami
- seesaminsiemenseed
- seesamiplant
French graine de sésame, sésame
- graine de sésameseed
- sésameseed
- sésameplant
German Sesam, Sesamsamen
- Sesamseed
- Sesamsamenseed
- Sesamplant
Greek σουσάμι, σουσαμιά
- σουσάμι (sousámi)seed
- σουσαμιά (sousamiá)plant
Hebrew שמשום, סומסום
- שמשוםseed
- סומסום (sumsum)plant
Hindi तिल, तील
- तिल (til)seed
- तील (tīl)seed
- पवित्र (pavitra)seed
- पितृतर्पण (pitŕtarpaṇ)seed
- पापघ्न (pāpaghna)seed
- पूतधान्य (pūtdhānya)seed
- जटिल (jaṭil)seed
- स्नेहफल (snehphal)seed
- तैलफल (tailphal)seed
- हेमधान्य (hemdhānya)seed
- तिल (til)plant
- तील (tīl)plant
Hungarian szezámmag, szezám
- szezámmagseed
- szezámplant
Indonesian wijen, bijan
- wijenplant
- bijanplant
- sesamplant
Irish seasaman
- seasamanplant
Italian sesamo, seme di sesamo
- sesamoseed
- seme di sesamoseed
- sesamoplant
Japanese 胡麻, 胡麻
- 胡麻 (goma)seed
- 胡麻 (goma)plant
Korean 참깨, 참깨
- 참깨 (chamkkae)seed
- 참깨 (chamkkae)plant
Latin sēsamum, sēsamum
- sēsamumseed
- sēsamumplant
Malay lenga, bijan
- lengaseed
- bijanseed
- bijanplant
- lengaplant
Māori hehame
- hehameplant
Norwegian Bokmål sesam, sesamfrø
- sesamseed
- sesamfrøseed
- sesamplant
Persian کنجد, کنجد
- کنجد (konjed)seed
- کنجد (konjed)plant
Polish sezam, sezam
- sezamseed
- sezamplant
Portuguese sésamo, gergelim
- sésamoseed
- gergelimseed
- sésamoplant
- gergelimplant
Punjabi ਤਿਲ, ਤਿਲ
- ਤਿਲ (til)seed
- ਤਿਲ (til)plant
Romanian susan, sesam
- susanseed
- sesamseed
- susanplant
- sesamplant
Russian сеза́м, сим-си́м
- сеза́м (sezám)seed
- сим-си́м (sim-sím)seed
- кунжут (kunžut)seed
- сеза́м (sezám)plant
- сим-си́м (sim-sím)plant
- кунжу́т (kunžút)plant
Slovak sezam
- sezamplant
Spanish ajonjolí, sésamo
- ajonjolíseed
- sésamoplant
Swedish sesam, sesamfrö
- sesamseed
- sesamfröseed
- sesamplant
Tagalog linga, linga
- lingaseed
- lingaplant
Tamil எள், எள்
- எள் (eḷ)seed
- எள் (eḷ)plant
Thai งา, งา
- งา (ngaa)seed
- งา (ngaa)plant
Turkish susam, küncü
- susamseed
- küncüseed
- susamplant
Urdu تل, سِمْسِم
- تل (til)seed
- سِمْسِم (simsim)seed
- تل (til)plant
- سِمْسِم (simsim)plant
Vietnamese mè, vừng
- mèseed
- vừngseed
- mèplant
- vừngplant
Welsh sesame
- sesameplant
Yiddish סומסום, קונזשוט
- סומסום (sumsum)seed
- קונזשוט (kunzhut)seed
- סומסום (sumsum)plant
- קונזשוט (kunzhut)plant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sesame
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
sesame. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesame
“sesame.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesame. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sesame,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sesame.
Source: sesame on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.