tahini

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Pronunciations

tahini (tuh-HEE-nee) listen
techina (TCHEE-nuh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A paste made from ground sesame seeds that is used in hummus, halva, and baba ghanoush.

Example Sentences

  • "Can you put some tahini on my falafel?"

  • "I made a salad with a vegan tahini dressing."

  • "Spoon some tehina into a small bowl." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Modern Hebrew
  • Arabic / Judeo-Arabic

Etymology

  • Modern Hebrew טחינה techina 'ground (sesame)' from Arabic طحينة TaHiina

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      techinah, tachinah, tehinah, tahinah, tehini, tekhina, takhina, techina, tachina, tehina, tahina, takhinah, tekhinah, tehina

Notes

  • "Tahini is often mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley, and spices and eaten as a dip, with pita bread and hummus. It's also used as a sauce on falafel and shawarma" (JPS).

    Not to be confused with tkhine, which is a prayer in Yiddish that Jewish women would often recite when lighting the Shabbat candles.

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