: the starchy or mucilaginous dried tubers of various Old World orchids (especially genus Orchis) used for food or in medicine
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebIn Turkey, winter is the season of salep. Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2020 Genuine salep powder might prove tricky to track down outside of Turkey, but glutinous rice flour or other starch can stand in while whipping up a batch. Lila Thulin, Smithsonian, 20 Dec. 2019 Turkey Over 100 species of orchid grow in Turkey, and a large portion of those flora can be transformed into the principle ingredient for salep. Lila Thulin, Smithsonian, 20 Dec. 2019
Word History
Etymology
French or Spanish, both from Arabic dialect saḥlab, perhaps alteration of Arabic (khuṣy al-)thaʽlab, literally, testicles of the fox
First Known Use
1736, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
salep
noun
sa·lep ˈsal-əp sə-ˈlep
: the starchy or mucilaginous dried tubers of various orchids (genus Orchis or Eulophia) used for food or in medicine