ajonjolí

Spanish

Common names for sesame in the Spanish-speaking world

Alternative forms

• aljonjolí, anjonjolí

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish ajonjolí, aljonjolí, from an ambiguous Andalusian Arabic form, of raised final vowel from Arabic جُلْجُلَان (juljulān, “sesame seed”), or of clipped ending, جُلْجُل (juljul) +‎ -í (nisba), as the descendants of the pomegranate cultivar سَفَرِيّ (safariyy), or rather +‎ -ín (diminutive) in view of Portuguese gergelim (“sesame”), all of which require dissimilation in the second consonant of the Romance form. Instances of metathetic جُنْجُلَال (junjulāl) can also be found today, the last consonant of which would only have undergone haplology after a raise of the vowel before it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /axonxoˈli/ [a.xõŋ.xoˈli]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: a‧jon‧jo‧lí

Noun

ajonjolí m (plural ajonjolís or ajonjolíes)

1. sesame (tropical Asian plant Sesamum indicum)

   Synonym: sésamo

2. sesame, sesame seed (the seed of this plant)

Further reading

• “ajonjolí”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “ajonjolí”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 97
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne, Engelmann, Wilhelm Hermann (1869) Glossaire des mots espagnols et portugais, dérivés de l’arabe‎^[1] (in French), 2^nd edition, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 146