‖ sesamum
(ˈsɛsəməm)
[L., ad. Gr. σήσαµον.]
= sesame.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 32 b, What say you to Sesamum, that was greatly in vse in the olde tyme. 1600 Surflet Country Farm ii. xl. 251 You must steepe your seedes in the oile of Sesamum, otherwise called Turkie millet. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 551 Rice, sugar-canes, corn, sesamum. 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 133 Common Sesamum, or Oily Grain. 1884 A. Lang Custom & Myth 93 The girl performs no magic feat, but merely throws sesamum on the ground to delay the cannibals. |
b. attrib., as sesamum-cake, sesamum-oil, sesamum-plant, sesamum-seed.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccccxcix. 1054 Columella saith, that Sesamum seedes must be sowen after Autumne æquinoctiall. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v. Sesamoide, Sesamum Seeds. 1850 F. Mason Nat. Product. Burmah 176 The sesamum plant is largely cultivated by the Karens. 1863 R. F. Burton Abeokuta I. 132 Sesamum oil. 1891 Daily News 16 May 5/4 Sesamum cake..is..mixed with both Persian and Indian opium. |