"open sesame" meaning in English

See open sesame in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-open sesame.wav Forms: open sesames [plural]
Etymology: From its use in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, translating French Sésame, ouvre-toi in Antoine Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, possibly based on an oral Arabic source. Not, as some have purported, a corruption of Open, says me!. Etymology templates: {{calque|en|fr|Sésame, ouvre-toi|notext=1}} French Sésame, ouvre-toi, {{der|en|ar|-}} Arabic Head templates: {{en-noun}} open sesame (plural open sesames)
  1. Any successful means of achieving a result, especially means that are magical or technical, or otherwise beyond the understanding of most people. Translations (successful means of achieving a result): taikasana (Finnish), seesam [archaic] (Finnish), sésame [masculine] (French), chiave di volta [feminine] (Italian), açıl susam açıl [also] (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-open_sesame-en-noun-FDoU5YDD

Phrase

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-open sesame.wav
Etymology: From its use in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, translating French Sésame, ouvre-toi in Antoine Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, possibly based on an oral Arabic source. Not, as some have purported, a corruption of Open, says me!. Etymology templates: {{calque|en|fr|Sésame, ouvre-toi|notext=1}} French Sésame, ouvre-toi, {{der|en|ar|-}} Arabic Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} open sesame
  1. open up (especially referring to doors) Categories (topical): Magic words Synonyms: open, Sesame, open, sesame, open Sesame Translations (open up): اِفْتَح يَا سِمْسِم (iftaḥ yā simsim) (Arabic), simsim, açıl (Azerbaijani), obre't sèsam (Catalan), 芝麻開門 (Chinese Cantonese), 芝麻开门 (zi¹ maa⁴ hoi¹ mun⁴) (Chinese Cantonese), 芝麻開門 (Chinese Mandarin), 芝麻开门 (zhīma kāimén) (Chinese Mandarin), sezame, otevři se (Czech), sesam, luk dig op (Danish), seesam avane (Estonian), seesam aukene (Finnish), Sésame, ouvre-toi (French), Sesam, öffne dich (German), szezám, tárulj (Hungarian), apriti sesamo (Italian), 開け胡麻 (Japanese), 開けゴマ (hirake goma) (alt: ひらけごま) (Japanese), отво́ри се, се́заме (otvóri se, sézame) (Macedonian), سسمی باز شو (sesemi bâz šov) (Persian), Sezamie, otwórz się [masculine] (Polish), abre-te sésamo (Portuguese), сеза́м, откро́йся (sezám, otkrójsja) (Russian), симси́м, откро́йся (simsím, otkrójsja) (Russian), ábrete sésamo (Spanish), sesam, öppna dig! (Swedish), açıl susam (Turkish), açıl susam açıl (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-open_sesame-en-phrase-W1mkYeVZ Disambiguation of Magic words: 17 83 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English imperative sentences, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Azerbaijani translations, Terms with Cantonese translations, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Estonian translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Persian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Turkish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 34 66 Disambiguation of English imperative sentences: 32 68 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 23 77 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 20 80 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 27 73 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 34 66 Disambiguation of Terms with Azerbaijani translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Cantonese translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 34 66 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Estonian translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 23 77 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Persian translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 32 68 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 34 66 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 24 76 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 30 70 Disambiguation of Terms with Turkish translations: 30 70

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "word": "open, Sesame"
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          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "word": "open, sesame"
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          "word": "open Sesame"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "iftaḥ yā simsim",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "اِفْتَح يَا سِمْسِم"
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          "code": "az",
          "lang": "Azerbaijani",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "simsim, açıl"
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          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "obre't sèsam"
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          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "芝麻開門"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "zi¹ maa⁴ hoi¹ mun⁴",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "芝麻开门"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "芝麻開門"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zhīma kāimén",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "芝麻开门"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "sezame, otevři se"
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        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "sesam, luk dig op"
        },
        {
          "code": "et",
          "lang": "Estonian",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "seesam avane"
        },
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          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "seesam aukene"
        },
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          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "Sésame, ouvre-toi"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "Sesam, öffne dich"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "szezám, tárulj"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "apriti sesamo"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "開け胡麻"
        },
        {
          "alt": "ひらけごま",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "hirake goma",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "開けゴマ"
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "otvóri se, sézame",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "отво́ри се, се́заме"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "sesemi bâz šov",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "سسمی باز شو"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "open up",
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            "masculine"
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          "word": "Sezamie, otwórz się"
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          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "abre-te sésamo"
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          "code": "ru",
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          "roman": "sezám, otkrójsja",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "сеза́м, откро́йся"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "simsím, otkrójsja",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "симси́м, откро́йся"
        },
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          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "ábrete sésamo"
        },
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          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "sesam, öppna dig!"
        },
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          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "açıl susam"
        },
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          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "open up",
          "word": "açıl susam açıl"
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          "text": "\"The blue topaz was bought by me, from the chieftain of the tribe to which Quacal belongs. It is an ‘open sesame’ to his favor.\"",
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          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
          "word": "taikasana"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "seesam"
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        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
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          "word": "sésame"
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        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "chiave di volta"
        },
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            "in imperative as a deverbal noun"
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          "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "açıl susam açıl"
        }
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        [
          "open up",
          "open up#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-open sesame.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "open, Sesame"
    },
    {
      "word": "open, sesame"
    },
    {
      "word": "open Sesame"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "iftaḥ yā simsim",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "اِفْتَح يَا سِمْسِم"
    },
    {
      "code": "az",
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "simsim, açıl"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "obre't sèsam"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "芝麻開門"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "zi¹ maa⁴ hoi¹ mun⁴",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "芝麻开门"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "芝麻開門"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zhīma kāimén",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "芝麻开门"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "sezame, otevři se"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "sesam, luk dig op"
    },
    {
      "code": "et",
      "lang": "Estonian",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "seesam avane"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "seesam aukene"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "Sésame, ouvre-toi"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "Sesam, öffne dich"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "szezám, tárulj"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "apriti sesamo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "開け胡麻"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ひらけごま",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "hirake goma",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "開けゴマ"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "otvóri se, sézame",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "отво́ри се, се́заме"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "sesemi bâz šov",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "سسمی باز شو"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Sezamie, otwórz się"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "abre-te sésamo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sezám, otkrójsja",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "сеза́м, откро́йся"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "simsím, otkrójsja",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "симси́м, откро́йся"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "ábrete sésamo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "sesam, öppna dig!"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "açıl susam"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "open up",
      "word": "açıl susam açıl"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves",
    "Antoine Galland",
    "One Thousand and One Nights"
  ],
  "word": "open sesame"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English imperative sentences",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrases",
    "English terms calqued from French",
    "English terms derived from Arabic",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Arabic translations",
    "Terms with Azerbaijani translations",
    "Terms with Cantonese translations",
    "Terms with Catalan translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Estonian translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Persian translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Turkish translations",
    "en:Magic words"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "Sésame, ouvre-toi",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "French Sésame, ouvre-toi",
      "name": "calque"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ar",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Arabic",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From its use in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, translating French Sésame, ouvre-toi in Antoine Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, possibly based on an oral Arabic source.\nNot, as some have purported, a corruption of Open, says me!.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "open sesames",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "open sesame (plural open sesames)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1899, William Wallace Cook, “Aquastor”, in Overland Monthly, page 15:",
          "text": "\"The blue topaz was bought by me, from the chieftain of the tribe to which Quacal belongs. It is an ‘open sesame’ to his favor.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1905, John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin, page lv:",
          "text": "He who can read a true book aright has an open sesame to audiences with the great and wise of all time.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1963, William J. Palmer, Trial Tactics in California, page 57:",
          "text": "Relevancy not always an open sesame having in mind the over-all authority and discretion of the trial judge.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 September 24, Gareth McLean, “Sympathy for a devil”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "When Mussolini was a young chap, he dabbled with socialism, imagining it to be an open sesame to a better society.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any successful means of achieving a result, especially means that are magical or technical, or otherwise beyond the understanding of most people."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "successful",
          "successful"
        ],
        [
          "means",
          "means"
        ],
        [
          "achieving",
          "achieving"
        ],
        [
          "result",
          "result"
        ],
        [
          "magical",
          "magical"
        ],
        [
          "technical",
          "technical"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-open sesame.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/99/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-open_sesame.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "open, Sesame"
    },
    {
      "word": "open, sesame"
    },
    {
      "word": "open Sesame"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
      "word": "taikasana"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "word": "seesam"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sésame"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "chiave di volta"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "raw_tags": [
        "in imperative as a deverbal noun"
      ],
      "sense": "successful means of achieving a result",
      "tags": [
        "also"
      ],
      "word": "açıl susam açıl"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves",
    "Antoine Galland",
    "One Thousand and One Nights"
  ],
  "word": "open sesame"
}

Download raw JSONL data for open sesame meaning in English (9.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.