An alternative spelling of 'khiamah' or 'chiam,' a Middle Eastern beverage or the seed of certain plants used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
From Hebrew 'khiamiah' through Arabic trade language, this word entered English through colonial and trade contact with the Middle East.
This obscure word shows how English absorbed vocabulary from everywhere merchants traveled—each new spice trade route brought a dozen new words for ingredients that Europeans had never seen before!
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