salep

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French salep, from Turkish salep, from Arabic سَحْلَب (saḥlab, type of orchid).[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Arabic word is said to be a contraction of خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, fox testicles) (الثَعْلَب (aṯ-ṯaʿlab, fox) + خُصًى (ḵuṣan, testicles)), referring to the testicle-like root tubers.[2]

Pronunciation

Noun

salep (countable and uncountable, plural saleps)

  1. A starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as the early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula).
    • 1800, Erasmus Darwin, “Sect. XI. Of Draining and Watering Lands.”, in Phytologia: Or The Philosophy of Agricuture and Gardening. With the Theory of Draining Morasses and with an Improved Construction of the Drill Plough, Dublin: Printed for P. Byrne, 108, Grafton-Street, OCLC 941833168, section XI.2.4.5, page 245:
      Where finally the draining of marſhy grounds can not be effected at a reſponſible expence, ſome plants may perhaps be cultivated with profit to the cultivator; as in ſome ſituations the feſtica fluitans, floating feſcue, callitriche, ſtar-graſs; or in others the orchis for the purpoſe of making ſaloop by drying the peeled roots in an oven.
    • 2014 April 5, “Quite interesting: A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week; QI orchids you not”, in The Daily Telegraph (Weekend), page W22:
      The tubers of one [orchid] species, Orchis mascula, produce a flour called salep, which was made into a drink known as "saloop" in 18th-century London, as an alternative to coffee (Charles Lamb thought it the ideal breakfast for chimney sweeps). Salep is a Turkish word with an even more precise derivation (it's from the Arabic for "fox's testicles"). Despite this, the Turks still use it to make a strange elastic ice cream, eaten with a knife and fork, which carries a pungent aftertaste compared by one commentator to the scent of "goats on a rainy day". Salep ice cream is so popular that O. mascula is now a protected species in Turkey.
  2. Alternative form of saloop (aromatic drink originally made with salep)

Alternative forms

Translations

References

  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), salep”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. salep”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams


French

Etymology

Borrowed from Turkish salep, from earlier sahlep, from Ottoman Turkish سحلب (sahleb), from Arabic خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, fox testicles).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sa.lɛp/
  • (file)

Noun

salep m (plural saleps)

  1. salep

Further reading


Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch zalf, from Middle Dutch salve, from Old Dutch salva, from Proto-Germanic *salbō.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈsaləp̚]
  • Hyphenation: sa‧lêp

Noun

salep (plural salep-salep, first-person possessive salepku, second-person possessive salepmu, third-person possessive salepnya)

  1. ointment.

Alternative forms

Affixed terms

  • menyalep

Compounds

  • salep antibiotik
  • salep antijamur
  • salep antivirus
  • salep bibir

Further reading


Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish سالب (saleb), سحلب (sahleb), from Arabic خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā ṯ-ṯaʿlab, fox testicles).

Noun

salep n (plural salepuri)

  1. salep

Declension

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