pilaf

Where does the word "pilaf" come from? It comes from Persian pilaw, passing through Turkish before entering English (1610s).

Pilaf’s story begins in Persian: pilaw meant “rice dish cooked in broth.” A dish of seasoned rice cooked in broth. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Turkish as pilav. Adopted and spread through the Ottoman Empire's cuisine. It reached English by 1610s as pilau / pilaf. Entered English with notoriously unstable spelling. Today, pilaf means a dish of rice cooked in seasoned broth, often with meat, vegetables, or dried fruit.

1. Stage 1 · Persian · medieval pilaw "rice dish cooked in broth", a dish of seasoned rice cooked in broth.
2. Stage 2 · Turkish · medieval pilav "rice dish with meat", adopted and spread through the Ottoman Empire's cuisine.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1610s pilau / pilaf "seasoned rice dish", entered English with notoriously unstable spelling.