σήσαμον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Old Aramaic שושמא (šūššmā), shortening of שומשומא (šumššemā), from Akkadian 𒊭𒈦𒌑𒈬 (šamaššammū, “oil plant”), compound of 𒉌𒄑 (šaman, “oil”) and 𒌑 (šammum, “plant”).

Compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀭𐀭𐀔 (sa-sa-ma) (directly from Akkadian?).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̌ː.sa.mon/ → /ˈsi.sa.mon/ → /ˈsi.sa.mon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sɛ̌ː.sa.mon/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈse̝.sa.mon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.sa.mon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.sa.mon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.sa.mon/

Noun

σήσᾰμον • (sḗsamon) n (genitive σησᾰ́μου); second declension

1. sesame

Declension

Second declension of τὸ σήσᾰμον; τοῦ σησᾰ́μου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σήσᾰμον tò sḗsamon	τὼ σησᾰ́μω tṑ sēsámō	τᾰ̀ σήσᾰμᾰ tà sḗsama
Genitive	τοῦ σησᾰ́μου toû sēsámou	τοῖν σησᾰ́μοιν toîn sēsámoin	τῶν σησᾰ́μων tôn sēsámōn
Dative	τῷ σησᾰ́μῳ tôi sēsámōi	τοῖν σησᾰ́μοιν toîn sēsámoin	τοῖς σησᾰ́μοις toîs sēsámois
Accusative	τὸ σήσᾰμον tò sḗsamon	τὼ σησᾰ́μω tṑ sēsámō	τᾰ̀ σήσᾰμᾰ tà sḗsama
Vocative	σήσᾰμον sḗsamon	σησᾰ́μω sēsámō	σήσᾰμᾰ sḗsama
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σησάμινος (sēsáminos)
• σησαμοειδές (sēsamoeidés)
• σησαμοειδής (sēsamoeidḗs)

 

Further reading

• “σήσαμον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σήσαμον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • sesame idem, page 756.