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sesame
(ˈsɛsəmiː, formerly ˈsɛsəm, ˈsiːsəm)
Forms: 5 sysane, 6–7 sesama, 7 sesami, sesamo, sesamy, 7– sesame, (9 -é), 6– sesam.
[In early use, a. or ad. L. sēsamum (see sesamum), also sīsamum, and sēsama, -ima = Gr. σήσαµον, σησάµη, prob. of oriental origin, but the relation to the Semitic forms (Syriac shūshmå, Jewish Aramaic shumsh⊇mā, Arab. simsim) is not clear. Some of the earlier forms represent It. sesamo, or mod.Gr. σησάµι (= earlier σησάµιον, dim.). The mod. currency and form of the word are due to translations of the Arabian Nights from Fr. (sésame), and the trisyllabic pronunciation to association with Gr. σησάµη.]
a. A widely cultivated East Indian plant, Sesamum indicum (N.O. Pedaliaceæ). Also, the seeds of this plant, from which an oil is expressed.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. x. 67 Sysane in faat soil & grauel is sowe. 1551Turner Herbal i. P vj b, Euonymus..hath coddes lyke vnto sesam. 1562Ibid. ii. 134 No beast will eat sesama when it is grene. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa viii. 324 This little citie built vpon the riuer of Nilus,..aboundeth greatly with the graine or seed called Sesama. 1601Holland Pliny xxii. xxv. II. 140 Sesama stamped or beaten into pouder, and so taken in wine, restraineth immoderat vomits. 1682Wheler Journ. Greece i. 67 Sesami (of which they make Oyl). 1736Ainsworth Lat.-Eng. Dict., Sesama, a white grain or corn growing in India,..sesame. 1744in 6th Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. ii. 121 A vegetable (called Sesamo) extraordinary productive of oyl of a sweet taste. 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xiii. (1794) 148 Wheat, Barley, Vetches, Sesame, &c., are said by Berosus to be wild in Babylonia. 1877C. Geikie Christ xlvi. (1879) 547 Wheat fields alternated with fields of barley, sesame and rice. 1897[see gingili].
b. The word used as a charm to open and shut the door of the robbers' den in the tale of ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’; hence, a magic password, something which acts like magic in obtaining admission; = open sesame.
1785Arab. Nts. Entert. 562 Their captain..pronounced these words distinctly: ‘Sesame’ (which is a sort of corn), ‘open.’ Ibid., Then Ali Baba heard him bid the door shut, by pronouncing these words—‘Shut, Sesame’. Ibid., Ali Baba..perceiving the door,..said—‘Open, Sesame’. 1831Lytton Godolphin xxii, No Tory, however wise,..could..have obtained the sesame to those apartments. 1862Calverley Verses & Transl. (1894) 96 Thy name shall be a Sesame, at which the doors of the great shall fly open. 1894K. Grahame Pagan P. 89 ‘Open, open, green hill!’—you needed no more recondite sesame than that.
c. attrib., as sesame grain, sesame oil, sesame-seed; sesame cake; sesame grass = gama grass.
1601Holland Pliny xv. vii. I. 434 The Sesame-seed doth yeeld an oile. 1745tr. Columella's Husb. xi. ii, In the provinces beyond the sea some sow their sesam-seeds either in this or the following month. 1758J. S. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) Dict. Cc 8 b, Sesamoidea Ossa, several small Bones..resembling Sesamy-Seed. 1846–50A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 623 Tripsacum dactylöides. Sesame Grass. 1867Baker Nile Trib. ii. (1872) 35 The sésamé grain. 1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. ii. (1872) 207 Sesame oil..is frequently used for the adulteration of balsams and volatile oils. 1876Crace-Calvert's Dyeing 111 The fabric is steeped in an emulsion of sesam oil. 1883Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XLIV. 360 Albuminoids in Peach Kernels and Sesame Cake. 1972House & Garden Feb. 98/2 Swiss fondue..Sesame seed sticks..make a happy accompaniment. 1973Time Out 2–8 Mar. 27/4 They also have..sesame seed rolls with really thick fillings for around 13p. 1978Nagel's Encycl.-Guide: China 380 Rolls covered with sesame seeds are eaten at the same time. |