Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A smooth thick mixture of mashed chickpeas, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and garlic, used especially as a dip for pita.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A Levantine Arab dip made of chickpea paste with various additions, such as olive oil, fresh garlic, lemon juice, and tahini, often eaten with pitta bread, or as a meze. It is mostly eaten in the Levant.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a thick spread made from mashed chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic; used especially as a dip for pita; originated in the Middle East

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Colloquial Arabic ḥummuṣ, chickpeas, variant of Arabic ḥimmaṣ, ḥimmiṣ, possibly of Aramaic origin; akin to Syriac ḥem(m)ṣē, chickpeas.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Turkish humus or Arabic حمص (ħummuṣ)

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hummus.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Cordelia: "I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan"

    Oz: "We attack the mayor with hummus?"

    - BtVS, "Graduation Day, pt. 2"

    December 11, 2006

  • A Middle Eastern dip. Hummus is to pita as salsa is to chips.

    February 21, 2007

  • When I first learned this word, I thought it was pronounced the same as (and possibly inspired by) humus. My reaction was "Yuck! How can anyone eat that!"

    (But now I love to eat hummus, and I suspect that this is because I've learned how to pronounce it.)

    April 22, 2008

  • Lol ptero. I love hummus, it's one of those foods which seems both homely and exotic at the same time.

    April 22, 2008

  • houmous to me! حمٌص in Arabic (I hope), its source language.

    April 22, 2008

  • I once asked my mother to buy some at the supermarket and she had to look it up in the dictionary before she went shopping. Then, at the supermarket, my parents couldn't find it on the shelves, so they went to the information desk... and repeat.

    September 5, 2008

  • The finest hummus in the land is made from dictionaries.

    September 5, 2008