"masala" meaning in English

See masala in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /məˈsɑːlə/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-masala.wav Forms: masalas [plural], masale [plural], mussalla [alternative]
Rhymes: -ɑːlə Etymology: Borrowed from Hindustani مصالحہ (maṣālḥa, maṣāliḥa) / मसाला (masālā, “spice(s)”), from Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”), plural of مصلحت (maslahat, “affair, policy, best thing to do”), both from Arabic, derived from صَلَحَ (ṣalaḥa, “be fit, competent, usable”). Etymology templates: {{root|en|ar|ص ل ح}}, {{bor+|en|inc-hnd}} Borrowed from Hindustani, {{der|en|fa-cls|مصالح||affairs, materials, spices|tr=masālih}} Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”), {{der|en|ar|-}} Arabic Head templates: {{en-noun|~|+|masale}} masala (countable and uncountable, plural masalas or masale)
  1. Any of many blends of spices used in Indian cuisine, most often containing cardamom, coriander, mace together with pepper, nutmeg, fennel seeds, jeera etc. Tags: countable, uncountable Categories (topical): Food and drink
    Sense id: en-masala-en-noun-B9QZb6-p Disambiguation of Food and drink: 55 0 45 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 4 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 22 30 Disambiguation of Pages with 4 entries: 51 23 26 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 47 25 28
  2. Any dish prepared with such spices. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-masala-en-noun-P76MOsod
  3. Any powder of ground ingredients, not necessarily used in cuisine. Tags: countable, uncountable Categories (topical): Food and drink
    Sense id: en-masala-en-noun-rAc~wV18 Disambiguation of Food and drink: 55 0 45
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: garam masala, masala chai, masala film, tikka masala

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "garam masala"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "masala chai"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "masala film"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tikka masala"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
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        "2": "ar",
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    {
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        "1": "en",
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      "args": {
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        "4": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "ar",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Hindustani مصالحہ (maṣālḥa, maṣāliḥa) / मसाला (masālā, “spice(s)”), from Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”), plural of مصلحت (maslahat, “affair, policy, best thing to do”), both from Arabic, derived from صَلَحَ (ṣalaḥa, “be fit, competent, usable”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "masalas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "masale",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mussalla",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~",
        "2": "+",
        "3": "masale"
      },
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      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 22 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "51 23 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 4 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 25 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "55 0 45",
          "kind": "topical",
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          "orig": "en:Food and drink",
          "parents": [
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2017 July 12, Sanjiv Khamgaonkar, “40 Mumbai foods we can’t live without”, in CNN:",
          "text": "A couple of vegetables, sambar (spicy and sour lentils and vegetables boiled with masalas and spices), rasam (a hot and fiery lentil soup-like dish) and curds (yoghurt) served with heaps of rice and eaten in that order. […] Basically, it’s a juicy naan bread with an egg coating, stuffed with mutton or chicken, rolled up and sprinkled with a unique masala that gives it its special flavor.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 3:",
          "text": "When she cooked, she reached out for bottles and masalas without glancing up.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of many blends of spices used in Indian cuisine, most often containing cardamom, coriander, mace together with pepper, nutmeg, fennel seeds, jeera etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-masala-en-noun-B9QZb6-p",
      "links": [
        [
          "blend",
          "blend"
        ],
        [
          "spice",
          "spice"
        ],
        [
          "Indian",
          "Indian"
        ],
        [
          "cuisine",
          "cuisine"
        ],
        [
          "cardamom",
          "cardamom"
        ],
        [
          "coriander",
          "coriander"
        ],
        [
          "mace",
          "mace"
        ],
        [
          "pepper",
          "pepper"
        ],
        [
          "nutmeg",
          "nutmeg"
        ],
        [
          "fennel",
          "fennel"
        ],
        [
          "seed",
          "seed"
        ],
        [
          "jeera",
          "jeera"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We ordered two lamb bhunas and a masala.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any dish prepared with such spices."
      ],
      "id": "en-masala-en-noun-P76MOsod",
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "55 0 45",
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          "parents": [
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any powder of ground ingredients, not necessarily used in cuisine."
      ],
      "id": "en-masala-en-noun-rAc~wV18",
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈsɑːlə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-masala.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-masala.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-masala.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑːlə"
    }
  ],
  "word": "masala"
}
{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Hindustani languages",
    "English terms derived from Arabic",
    "English terms derived from Classical Persian",
    "English terms derived from Hindi",
    "English terms derived from Hindustani languages",
    "English terms derived from the Arabic root ص ل ح",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 4 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɑːlə",
    "Rhymes:English/ɑːlə/3 syllables",
    "en:Food and drink"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "garam masala"
    },
    {
      "word": "masala chai"
    },
    {
      "word": "masala film"
    },
    {
      "word": "tikka masala"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      },
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        "2": "inc-hnd"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "4": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”)",
      "name": "der"
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    {
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        "2": "ar",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Hindustani مصالحہ (maṣālḥa, maṣāliḥa) / मसाला (masālā, “spice(s)”), from Classical Persian مصالح (masālih, “affairs, materials, spices”), plural of مصلحت (maslahat, “affair, policy, best thing to do”), both from Arabic, derived from صَلَحَ (ṣalaḥa, “be fit, competent, usable”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "masalas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "masale",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mussalla",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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        "1": "~",
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    }
  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2017 July 12, Sanjiv Khamgaonkar, “40 Mumbai foods we can’t live without”, in CNN:",
          "text": "A couple of vegetables, sambar (spicy and sour lentils and vegetables boiled with masalas and spices), rasam (a hot and fiery lentil soup-like dish) and curds (yoghurt) served with heaps of rice and eaten in that order. […] Basically, it’s a juicy naan bread with an egg coating, stuffed with mutton or chicken, rolled up and sprinkled with a unique masala that gives it its special flavor.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 3:",
          "text": "When she cooked, she reached out for bottles and masalas without glancing up.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any of many blends of spices used in Indian cuisine, most often containing cardamom, coriander, mace together with pepper, nutmeg, fennel seeds, jeera etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "blend",
          "blend"
        ],
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          "spice",
          "spice"
        ],
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          "Indian",
          "Indian"
        ],
        [
          "cuisine",
          "cuisine"
        ],
        [
          "cardamom",
          "cardamom"
        ],
        [
          "coriander",
          "coriander"
        ],
        [
          "mace",
          "mace"
        ],
        [
          "pepper",
          "pepper"
        ],
        [
          "nutmeg",
          "nutmeg"
        ],
        [
          "fennel",
          "fennel"
        ],
        [
          "seed",
          "seed"
        ],
        [
          "jeera",
          "jeera"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
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      ],
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        {
          "text": "We ordered two lamb bhunas and a masala.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any dish prepared with such spices."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Any powder of ground ingredients, not necessarily used in cuisine."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/məˈsɑːlə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-masala.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-masala.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-masala.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑːlə"
    }
  ],
  "word": "masala"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (ce0be54 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.