Standard Lemma guide

halva

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /hɑːlˈvɑː/
  • General-American: /ˈhɑːlvɑː/
  • General-American: /ˈxɑːlvə/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Yiddish חלווה (khálva), from Romanian halva, from Ottoman Turkish حلوا (helva), from Persian حلوا (halvâ), from Arabic حَلْوَى (ḥalwā). Cognate with Halwai.

Across languages

Translations

85 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: hallvë — confection
  • Arabic: حَلَاوَة طَحِيِنِيَّة (ḥalāwa ṭaḥiyiniyya) — confection
  • Arabic: حَلْوَى شَامِيَّة (ḥalwā šāmiyya) — confection
  • Armenian: հալվա (halva) — confection
  • Assamese: হালুৱা (halua) — confection
  • Azerbaijani: halva — confection
  • Bashkir: хәлүә (xəlwə) — confection
  • Belarusian: халва́ (xalvá) — confection
  • Bengali: হালুয়া (haluẏa) — confection
  • Bulgarian: халва́ (halvá) — confection
  • Burmese: ဟလဝါ (ha.la.wa) — confection
  • Chechen: хьовл (ḥrovl) — confection
  • Chinese: халўва (halwva) — confection
  • Chinese: халуван (haluvan) — confection
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哈爾瓦 /哈尔瓦 (hā'ěrwǎ) — confection
  • Chuvash: халва (halva) — confection
  • Crimean Tatar: elva — confection
  • Czech: chalva — confection
  • Dutch: halva — confection
  • Estonian: halvaa — confection
  • Finnish: halva — confection
  • French: halva — confection
  • Georgian: ჰალვა (halva) — confection
  • German: Halva — confection
  • German: Halwa — confection
  • Greek: χαλβάς (chalvás) — confection
  • Hausa: àlāwā̀ — confection
  • Hebrew: חַלְוָה (khalvá) — confection
  • Hindi: हलवा (halvā) — confection
  • Hindi: मोहनभीग (mohanbhīg) — confection
  • Hungarian: halva — confection
  • Ido: halva — confection
  • Italian: halva — confection
  • Japanese: ハルバ (haruba) — confection
  • Japanese: ハルヴァ (haruva) — confection
  • Kazakh: халуа (xalua) — confection
  • Kazakh: қалуа (qalua) — confection
  • Kazakh: алуа (alua) — confection
  • Korean: 할바 (halba) — confection
  • Korean: 할와 (harwa) — confection
  • Kumyk: гьалива (haliwa) — confection
  • Northern Kurdish: helaw — confection
  • Kyrgyz: халва (halva) — confection
  • Kyrgyz: алба (alba) — confection
  • Latvian: halva — confection
  • Lithuanian: chalva — confection
  • Macedonian: алва (alva) — confection
  • Malay: halwa — confection
  • Malayalam: അലുവ (aluva) — confection
  • Maltese: ħelwa tat-Tork — confection
  • Marathi: हलवा (halvā) — confection
  • Pashto: حلوا (halwã) — confection
  • Persian: حلوا (halvâ) — confection
  • Polish: chałwa — confection
  • Portuguese: halvah — confection
  • Punjabi: ਹਲਵਾ (halvā) — confection
  • Romanian: halva — confection
  • Russian: халва́ (xalvá) — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: халва — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: алва — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: тахан халва — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: halva — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: alva — confection
  • Serbo-Croatian: tahan halva — confection
  • Slovak: chalva — confection
  • Slovene: halva — confection
  • Southern Altai: халва (halva) — confection
  • Spanish: halva — confection
  • Swedish: halva — confection
  • Swedish: helva — confection
  • Tajik: ҳалво (halvo) — confection
  • Tamil: ஹல்வா (halvā) — confection
  • Tamil: அல்வா (alvā) — confection
  • Tatar: хәлвә (xälwä) — confection
  • Turkish: helva — confection
  • Turkish: tahin helvası — confection
  • Ottoman Turkish: حلوا (helva) — confection
  • Turkmen: halwa — confection
  • Ukrainian: халва́ (xalvá) — confection
  • Urdu: حلوہ (halvā) — confection
  • Uyghur: ھالۋا (halwa) — confection
  • Uzbek: holva — confection
  • Vietnamese: bánh hanva — confection
  • Vietnamese: bánh mật — confection
  • Yiddish: כאַלווע (khalve) — confection