shawarma

Where does the word "shawarma" come from? It comes from Turkish cevirme, passing through Levantine Arabic before entering English (1900s).

Shawarma’s story begins in Turkish: cevirme meant “turning.” Turning, from cevirmek (to turn), describing meat roasted on a turning spit. By 1900s, the word had taken hold in Levantine Arabic as shawarma. Adapted into Arabic for meat sliced from a vertical rotating spit. It reached English by 1900s as shawarma. From Turkish 'çevirme', turning, for the rotating spit. Today, shawarma means a dish of meat cooked on a vertical rotating spit and sliced into a wrap.

1. Stage 1 · Turkish · ottoman cevirme "turning", turning, from cevirmek (to turn), describing meat roasted on a turning spit.
2. Stage 2 · Levantine Arabic · 1900s shawarma "meat sliced from a rotating spit", adapted into Arabic for meat sliced from a vertical rotating spit.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1900s shawarma "a dish of spit-roasted meat sliced and served in flatbread", from Turkish 'çevirme', turning, for the rotating spit.