Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An erect annual plant (Sesamum indicum) native to tropical Asia, widely cultivated for its small flat seeds.
  • noun The seed of this plant, used as food and as a source of oil.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An annual herbaceous plant, Sesamum Indicum (S. orientale), widely cultivated and naturalized in tropical and subtropical countries.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) Either of two annual herbaceous plants of the genus Sesamum (S. Indicum, and S. orientale), from the seeds of which an oil is expressed; also, the small obovate, flattish seeds of these plants, sometimes used as food. See benne.
  • noun the magical command which opened the door of the robber's den in the Arabian Nights' tale of “The Forty Thieves;” hence, a magical password.
  • noun (Bot.) Same as Gama grass.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A tropical Asian plant Sesamum indicum bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil
  • noun The seed of this plant

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun East Indian annual erect herb; source of sesame seed or benniseed and sesame oil

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sisamie, from Latin sēsamum, from Greek sēsamē, sēsamon, probably ultimately from Akkadian šamaššammū : šamnu, oil; see šmn in Semitic roots + šammu, plant; see śmm in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1425; Middle English sisamie, from Middle French sisame, learned borrowing from Latin sīsamum, variant of sēsama, from Ancient Greek σησάμη (sēsámē) (obl. σήσαμον (sḗsamon)) ‘sesame seed’, from Old Aramaic šwšmʾ (šūššmā), shortening of šwmšwmʾ (šumššemā), from Akkadian (Assyrian) šamaššammū, šamaššammi, literally ‘plant oil’, compound of  (šaman) ‘oil’ and  (šammu) ‘plant’.

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