bulgur

Where does the word "bulgur" come from? It comes from Persian barghul, passing through Arabic and Ottoman Turkish before entering English (1926).

Bulgur’s story begins in Persian: barghul meant “cracked wheat.” Named parboiled, cracked wheat, meaning roughly "roughly crushed". By medieval, the word had taken hold in Arabic as burghul. Spread the grain and its name across the medieval Middle East. From there it passed into Ottoman Turkish as bulgur by 1800s. The sounds were rearranged in Turkish pronunciation. It reached English by 1926 as bulgur. Entered English food writing describing the ancient Middle Eastern grain staple. Today, bulgur means a cereal food made from parboiled, dried, and cracked wheat.

1. Stage 1 · Persian · medieval barghul "cracked wheat", named parboiled, cracked wheat, meaning roughly "roughly crushed".
2. Stage 2 · Arabic · medieval burghul "cracked wheat", spread the grain and its name across the medieval Middle East.
3. Stage 3 · Ottoman Turkish · 1800s bulgur "cracked wheat", the sounds were rearranged in Turkish pronunciation.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1926 bulgur "parboiled cracked wheat", entered English food writing describing the ancient Middle Eastern grain staple.