ajonjolí

sesame (tropical Asian plant Sesamum indicum); sesame, sesame seed (the seed of this plant)

Inherited from Old Spanish ajonjolí, aljonjolí, from an ambiguous Andalusian Arabic form, of raised final vowel from Arabic جُلْجُلَان (juljulān, “sesame seed”), or of clipped ending, جُلْجُل (juljul) + -í (nisba), as the descendants of the pomegranate cultivar سَفَرِيّ (safariyy), or rather + -ín (diminutive) in view of Portuguese gergelim (“sesame”), all of which require dissimilation in the second consonant of the Romance form. Instances of metathetic جُنْجُلَال (junjulāl) can also be found t