masala

Etymology

It is borrowed from Urdu مصالحہ (masālā), also borrowed from Hindi मसाला (masālā),^[1][2][3][4] from Persian مَصَالِح (maṣāliḥ, “materials, ingredients, spices”),^[1][2][3] which comes from Arabic, the plural of a noun meaning matter, affair or benefit, from a verb meaning to be good or proper.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mixture of ground spices used in Indian cookery: 1780, in a letter of I. Munro.^[2][3] Etymonline finds the word in English by 1833, spelt musala.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Urdu and Hindi word meant materials or ingredients in general, as well as spices.^[3][2] In English it has meant a blend of spices, sometimes made into a paste with water or vinegar, and later also a dish flavoured with one.^[2][6] From 1970 it was used figuratively for anything made of a varied mix of elements, especially an Indian film combining many genres,^[2] the masala film, which Etymonline dates to 1990.^[5] In Indian English it has also meant spice, zest or excitement since 1986.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1780 – a mixture of spices used in Indian cookery.^[2][3]
• 1970 – a varied mixture of elements; a film combining many genres.^[2]
• 1986 – piquancy, zest (Indian English).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blend of ground spices, used as a powder or paste in Indian cooking; also a dish flavoured with it.^[3][7][6][2]
2. A varied mixture of elements, especially a popular Indian film combining action, romance, music and comedy.^[2][7]
3. (Indian English) Liveliness, zest or excitement.^[2]

Adjective

1. (Indian English) Spicy; full of drama: a masala film.^[7]

Word family

• garam masala

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins