Standard Lemma guide

tahini

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

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.

  • /tɑːˈhiː.ni/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A paste made from ground sesame seeds, and used to make hummus, baba ganoush, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: cooking, food, lifestyle

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ardeh

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a thick Middle Eastern paste made from ground sesame seeds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: spread, paste

History

Etymology

From Arabic طَحِينَة (ṭaḥīna), from the root ط ح ن (ṭ-ḥ-n) related to grinding. Final -i most probably from North Levantine dialects or from Greek ταχίνι (tachíni).

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: طَحِينَة (ṭaḥīna) — sesame paste
  • Bulgarian: тахан (tahan) — sesame paste
  • Chinese Mandarin: 芝麻醬 /芝麻酱 (zhīmajiàng) — sesame paste
  • Danish: tahini — sesame paste
  • Danish: tahin — sesame paste
  • Danish: sesampasta — sesame paste
  • Danish: sesamsmør — sesame paste
  • Esperanto: sezama pasto — sesame paste
  • Finnish: tahini — sesame paste
  • French: tahini — sesame paste
  • German: Tahina — sesame paste
  • Greek: ταχίνι (tachíni) — sesame paste
  • Hebrew: טחינה (t'khína) — sesame paste
  • Hindi: ताहिनी (tāhinī) — sesame paste
  • Italian: tahina — sesame paste
  • Japanese: 芝麻醤 (chīmājan) — sesame paste
  • Macedonian: таан (taan) — sesame paste
  • Manchu: ᠮᠠᠯᠠᠩᡤᡡ ᠮᡳᠰᡠᠨ (malanggū misun) — sesame paste
  • Persian: ارده (arde) — sesame paste
  • Polish: tahini — sesame paste
  • Portuguese: tahine — sesame paste
  • Russian: тахини (taxini) — sesame paste
  • Spanish: tahina — sesame paste
  • Swedish: sesampasta — sesame paste
  • Swedish: tahini — sesame paste
  • Turkish: tahin — sesame paste
  • Urdu: تاہینی (tāhinī) — sesame paste
  • Yiddish: טכינע (tkhine) — sesame paste