Sesame Definition

sĕsə-mē

noun

A plant (Sesamum indicum) of a family (Pedaliaceae, order Scrophulariales) of tropical, dicotyledonous herbs and shrubs, whose flat seeds yield an edible oil and are used for flavoring bread, rolls, etc.

Webster's New World

Its seeds.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
benny
benni
Sesamum indicum
benne

Other Word Forms of Sesame

Noun

Singular:

sesame

Plural:

sesames

Origin of Sesame

1425; Middle English sisamie, from Middle French sisame, learned borrowing from Latin sÄ«samum, variant of sÄ“sama, from Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon, “sesame seed"), from Old Aramaic שושמא (Å¡Å«Å¡Å¡mā), shortening of שומשומא (Å¡umÅ¡Å¡emā), from Akkadian (Assyrian) [script?] (Å¡amaÅ¡Å¡ammÅ«)[script?], [script?] (Å¡amaÅ¡Å¡ammi)[script?], literally "˜oil plant', compound of [script?] (Å¡aman, “oil")[script?] and [script?] (Å¡ammu, “plant")[script?].

From Wiktionary
Middle English sisamie from Latin sēsamum from Greek sēsamē, sēsamon probably ultimately from Akkadian šamaššammū šamnu oil šmn in Semitic roots šammu plant śmm in Semitic roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition