baba ganoush

English edit

WOTD – 18 December 2021

Etymology edit

A dish of baba ganoush.

Borrowed from Arabic بَابَا غَنُّوج (bābā ḡannūj, literally “father of coquetry”), because it was supposedly invented by a member of a royal harem, perhaps to pamper the master:^[1] from بَابَا (bābā, “daddy, father, papa”) + غَنُّوج (ḡannūj, “coquettish, coy”)^[2] (compare غنج (ḡanija, “to coquet, flirt”)).^[3]

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌbɑːbə ɡəˈnuːʃ/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌbɑbə ɡəˈnuʃ/
Rhymes: -uːʃ
Hyphenation: ba‧ba ga‧noush

Noun edit

baba ganoush (uncountable)

A Middle Eastern dish made from a purée of roasted aubergine (eggplant), garlic, and tahini, often eaten as a dip with bread.

Alternative forms edit

baba ganouj, baba ghannouj, baba ghanouj, baba ghanoush, babba gannouge

Translations edit

Middle Eastern dish made from a purée of roasted aubergine, garlic, and tahini

Arabic: بَابَا غَنُّوج m (bābā ḡannūj)
Finnish: baba ganoush
French: baba ganouche m
Polish: baba ghanoush f
Russian: ба́ба гану́ш m (bába ganúš)
Spanish: baba ganush m
Turkish: babaganuç

References edit

^ Compare Gil Marks (2010) “Baba Ghanouj”, in Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN; Habeeb Salloum (2010) “Appetizers and Snacks”, in The Arabian Nights Cookbook: From Lamb Kebabs to Baba Ghanouj, Delicious Homestyle Arabian Cooking, Tokyo, Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, page 34.
^ “baba ganoush, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021; “baba ganoush, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “baba ghanouj”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.