A sesame plant or the seeds thereof, used in Asian and Indian cuisine; also spelled 'jingilis' or similar variants.
From Sanskrit 'til' or similar roots, the word traveled through multiple languages (Arabic, Persian, Malay) before entering English. It reflects the ancient importance of sesame in Asian agricultural and culinary traditions.
Sesame seeds were so valuable in ancient trade that the word for them traveled the entire Silk Road and changed shape in every language—a 'linguistic passport' showing how goods moved between continents.
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