sesamum

See also: Sesamum

English

Etymology

From Latin sēsamum.

Noun

sesamum (uncountable)

1. (archaic) sesame
   • 1760, Robert Kerr, A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1‎^[1]:

     While at play for this extraordinary stake, they have a fire by them, on which a small pot of walnut oil, or oil of sesamum, is kept boiling; and when one has won a game, he chops off the end of the loser's finger, who immediately dips the stump into the boiling oil, to stem the blood; and some will persist so obstinately, as to have all their fingers thus mutilated.

   • 1896, Edward Washburn Hopkins, The Religions of India‎^[2]:

     The latter is called the feast of 'six sesamum acts,' for sesamum is a holy plant, and in each act of this rite it plays a part.

Latin

Alternative forms

• sīsamum n, sīsamon n, sēsamon n
• sēsama f, sēsima f, sīsama f, sīsima f (Late Latin or Medieval Latin manuscript variants)
• sēsam n, schēsam n (Medieval Latin undeclinables)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σήσαμον (sḗsamon).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈseː.sa.mum/, [ˈs̠eːs̠ämʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈse.sa.mum/, [ˈsɛːs̬ämum]

Noun

sēsamum n (genitive sēsamī); second declension

1. sesame

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	sēsamum	sēsama
genitive	sēsamī	sēsamōrum
dative	sēsamō	sēsamīs
accusative	sēsamum	sēsama
ablative	sēsamō	sēsamīs
vocative	sēsamum	sēsama

Derived terms

• sēsamāceus

 

References

• “sesamum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sesamum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.