fenugreek

English

Fenugreek seeds

Etymology

From Middle English fenygreke, fenegrek, from Old French fenugrec, fengrec, from Latin foenum-graecum, from foenum (“hay”, variant of faenum) + graecum (“Greek”, neuter form of graecus), literally “Greek hay”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛnjʊˌɡɹiːk/, /ˈfɛnjəˌɡɹiːk/
• Hyphenation: fen‧u‧greek

Noun

fenugreek (usually uncountable, plural fenugreeks)

1. Any of the species leguminous plant, Trigonella foenum-graecum, eaten as a vegetable and with seeds used as a spice.
   • 2019, Muhammad Asif Hanif, Medicinal Plants of South Asia, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 260:

     Fenugreek plant was introduced to Central Europe by Benedictine monks, and it is promoted in the 9th century by Charlemagne. It was grown extensively in the imperial gardens of Charlemagne (Popova, 2017).

2. The seeds of this plant, used as a spice (especially in Indian and Thai cooking).

   Synonym: methi

   • 2000, B. Dave Oomah, Herbs, Botanicals and Teas, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 110:

     Fenugreek’s nutritional and tonic properties have also been tapped since ancient times. […] Fenugreek-based preparations stimulate the appetite and promote weight gain in people with anemia, anorexia, tuberculosis or asthenia.

Derived terms

• blue fenugreek

Translations

plant and vegetable

• Arabic: حُلْبَة f (ḥulba)

  Moroccan Arabic: حَلبة f (ḥalba), حُلبة f (ḥulba)

• Armenian: հացհամեմ (hy) (hacʻhamem), չաման (hy) (čʻaman)
• Azerbaijani: güldəfnə, şəmbəllə
• Bulgarian: сми́ндух (bg) m (smínduh)
• Burmese: ပဲနံ့သာ (my) (pai:nam.sa)
• Catalan: fenigrec m, coleta f (Valencia)
• Esperanto: fenugreko
• Estonian: lambalääts
• Finnish: sarviapila (fi), rohtosarviapila (fi)
• French: fenugrec (fr) m, senègre (fr) m, senegré (fr) m
• Georgian: ულუმბო (ulumbo), უცხო სუნელი (ucxo suneli)
• German: Bockshornklee (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: τῆλις f (têlis), αἰγόκερας n or m (aigókeras), βούκερας n (boúkeras)

• Irish: seamair Ghréagach f
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: شِمڵی (şimllî)

  Northern Kurdish: şembelîlk (ku) f

  Southern Kurdish: شِمِلیە (şimilye)

• Latin: foenum-graecum n, carphos m, telis f
• Maltese: ħelba f, fienu m
• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⴹⴰⵚ f (tifiḍaṣ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bukkehornkløver (no) m

• Persian: شنبلیله (fa) (šanbalile)
• Polish: kozieradka (pl) f
• Russian: па́житник (ru) m (pážitnik), шамбала́ (ru) f (šambalá), чама́н (ru) m (čamán), фенугре́к (ru) m (fenugrék)
• Spanish: fenogreco m, alholva (es) f
• Swedish: bockhornsklöver (sv) c
• Tashelhit: ⵜⵉⴼⵉⴹⴰⵚ f (tifiḍaṣ)
• Tocharian B: wetene ?
• Turkish: çemenotu, çemen (tr), boy otu
• Walloon: sinagrêye (wa) f
• Welsh: groegwyran m

spice

• Amharic: ኣብሽ ? (ʾabš)
• Arabic: حُلْبَة f (ḥulba)
• Armenian: հուլպա (hulpa), հացհամեմ (hy) (hacʻhamem)
• Azerbaijani: güldəfnə
• Bengali: মেথি (bn) (methi)
• Bihari: मेथी ?
• Bulgarian: сми́ндух (bg) m (smínduh)
• Burmese: ပဲနံ့သာ (my) (pai:nam.sa)
• Catalan: fenigrec m, alfolba f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 胡蘆巴／胡芦巴 (zh) (húlúbā)

• Danish: bukkehorn ?
• Dhivehi: އޯބަތް (ōbat̊)
• Dutch: honingklaver (nl) f or m, fenegriek (nl) m or n
• Esperanto: fenugreko
• Estonian: lambalääts
• Finnish: sarviapila (fi), rohtosarviapila (fi)
• French: fenugrec (fr) m
• Georgian: შამბალილა (šambalila), ულბო (ulbo)
• German: Bockshornklee (de) m, Bockshornkleesamen pl
• Greek: τριγωνέλλα f (trigonélla), νυχάκι (el) n (nycháki) (colloquial)
• Gujarati: મેથી f (methī)
• Hindi: मेथी (hi) f (methī)
• Hungarian: görögszéna (hu)
• Indonesian: kelabat (id)
• Irish: feinigréag m
• Italian: trigonella f
• Japanese: フェヌグリーク (fenugurīku)
• Javanese: ꦏꦼꦭꦧꦠ꧀ (kelabat), ꦏ꧀ꦭꦧꦠ꧀ (klabat)
• Kannada: ಮೆಂತೆ (kn) (mente)
• Korean: 호로파 (horopa)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: şembelîk (ku), xencelîsk (ku)

• Macedonian: пискавица f (piskavica)
• Malay: halba
• Malayalam: ഉലുവ (ml) (uluva)
• Maltese: ħelba f, fienu m
• Marathi: मेथी ? (methī)
• Nepali: मेथी (methī)
• Norwegian: bukkehornkløver (no) ?
• Odia: ମେଥି (or) (methi)
• Persian: شنبلیله (fa) (šanbalile)
• Polish: kozieradka (pl) f
• Portuguese: feno-grego m, alforba f, alfarva f
• Punjabi: ਮੇਥੀ ? (methī)
• Romanian: fenugrec (ro) m, fân grecesc n, schinduf (ro) m
• Russian: па́житник (ru) m (pážitnik), шамбала́ (ru) f (šambalá), чама́н (ru) m (čamán), фенугре́к (ru) m (fenugrék)
• Sanskrit: मेथिका (sa) f (methikā)
• Sinhalese: උළුහාල් ? (uḷuhāl)
• Slovene: grško seno n
• Spanish: alholva (es) f, fenogreco m
• Svan: შა̈მბლიკა̈ჲ (šämbliḳäy)
• Swahili: uwatu ?
• Swedish: bockhornsklöver (sv) c
• Tamil: வெந்தயம் (ta) (ventayam)
• Telugu: మెంతులు (te) (mentulu)
• Thai: ลูกซัด (lûuk-sát)
• Turkish: boy tohumu, çemen tohumu, çemen (tr)
• Urdu: میتھی f (methī)
• Welsh: ffenigrig m, groegwyran m

Further reading

• fenugreek on Wikipedia.Wikipedia