Standard Lemma guide

salep

noun · 2 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

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  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsæləp/
  • homophone: Salop

1

noun

Meaning 1

A starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids (Orchis mascula).

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

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative form of saloop (“aromatic drink originally made with salep”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Arabic خُصَى (ḵuṣā) Proto-Semitic *ṯaʕlab- Arabic ثَعْلَب (ṯaʕlab) Arabic خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā aṯ-ṯaʕlab) Arabic سَحْلَب (saḥlab)bor. Ottoman Turkish سالپ (sālep) Turkish salepbor. French salepbor. English salep Borrowed from French salep, borrowed from Turkish salep, from Ottoman Turkish سالپ (sālep), borrowed from Arabic سَحْلَب (saḥlab), from خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā aṯ-ṯaʕlab), from خُصَى (ḵuṣā) + ثَعْلَب (ṯaʕlab), literally “fox testicles”.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: salep — a starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids
  • Spanish: salep — a starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids
  • Albanian: salep — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Arabic: سَحْلَب (saḥlab) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Armenian: սալեպ (salep) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Bulgarian: сале́п (salép) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蘭莖粉 /兰茎粉 — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Georgian: სალეპი (saleṗi) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Greek: σαλέπι (salépi) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Hebrew: סַחְלָב (sakhláv) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Japanese: サレップ (sareppu) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Korean: 살렙 (sallep) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Macedonian: салеп (salep) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Polish: salep — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Romanian: salep — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Russian: са́леп (sálep) — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Turkish: salep — aromatic drink originally made with salep
  • Ukrainian: са́леп (sálep) — aromatic drink originally made with salep