A variant spelling of halvah, the Middle Eastern sesame seed confection.
An alternative transliteration from Arabic حلوى (halwa), reflecting different phonetic conventions used in English and other European languages when borrowing the word.
The multiple spellings—halvah, halva, halvas—show how a single Arabic word got Anglicized in different ways depending on which traders, explorers, or immigrants brought it to different parts of Europe.
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