σήσαμον Ancient Greek · revision 2281

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)|origins=akk šamaššammū}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /sɛ̌ː.sa.mon/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈsi.sa.mon/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈsi.sa.mon/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''σήσᾰμον''' (sḗsamon) ''n'' (genitive σησᾰ́μου); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Doric [[σάσαμον|tr=sásamon]], Laconian [[σάαμον|tr=sáamon]]; later also σήσαμος (masculine) and σησάμη (feminine).^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)^(LSJ 1940)

+ [[gmy|sa-sa-ma]] (plural).^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a Semitic loanword.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)^(Frisk 1960) Wiktionary takes it as [[bor|arc|שושמא|tr=šūššmā]], a shortening of šumššemā, from [[akk|šamaššammū|t=oil plant]], a compound of šaman “oil” and šammum “plant”, and Etymonline traces it through Phoenician to Late Babylonian.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Rosół lists related forms across Semitic, such as [[phn|ššmn]] and Arabic simsim, and the word also reached [[hit|šammama-]].^(Rosół 2013)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ The Greek formation is like that of [[κάρδαμον|tr=kárdamon]] and [[βάλσαμον|tr=bálsamon]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Mycenaean sa-sa-ma shows that the borrowing is very old, perhaps of Proto-Hellenic date, and the Greek neuter may have been formed from the collective plural.^(Wiktionary) It was borrowed as [[la|sēsamum]] and [[m|la|sēsama]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets record sa-sa-ma.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013) In literature it first appears in Alcman (in the Doric form σάσαμον), Solon and Hipponax, for the seeds.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Rosół 2013)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Herodotus describes it as a crop of Mesopotamia, and Xenophon mentions it in Cilicia.^(Rosół 2013) Aristophanes and Xenophon use the word for the plant itself.^(Rosół 2013)^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Sesame cakes and [[σησαμίς|tr=sēsamís]], a dish of roasted seeds and honey, appear in Stesichorus and comedy.^(Beekes 2010) Papyri of the 3rd century BC mention it, Hellenistic papyri speak of land planted with it, and τὰ σήσαμα named the sesame market.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) Strabo writes of anointing oneself with sesame oil.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ Medieval Greek used σήσαμον and the masculine σήσαμος, attested from the 4th century, for the seeds, and the word survives as a learned [[el|σήσαμο|tr=sísamo]].^(Kriaras) [[en|sesame]] came through Latin in the early 15th century, and first appeared as a magic word in a 1722 English translation of the ''Arabian Nights''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean – sa-sa-ma on the Linear B tablets.^(Beekes 2010)^(Rosół 2013)

+ * 7th century BC – Alcman uses the Doric σάσαμον.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 7th–6th century BC – Solon mentions sesame seeds.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus describes sesame growing in Mesopotamia.^(Rosół 2013)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon mentions it in Cilicia.^(Rosół 2013)^(DGE)

+ * 3rd century BC – papyri mention sesame.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Early 15th century – English ''sisamie''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|sesame]] plant.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(plural or collective)'' Sesame [[m|en|seed|alt=seeds]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(plural, τὰ σήσαμα)'' The sesame market.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[σησαμίς|tr=sēsamís]]

+ * [[σησαμοῦς|tr=sēsamoûs]]

+ * [[σησάμινος|tr=sēsáminos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|sēsamum]]

+ * [[en|sesame]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}