tandoor

Where does the word "tandoor" come from? It comes from Arabic/Persian tannur, passing through Punjabi/Hindi before entering English (1900s).

Tandoor’s story begins in Arabic/Persian: tannur meant “a clay oven.” An ancient word for a clay oven. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Punjabi/Hindi as tandur. The traditional clay oven used across South Asia. It reached English by 1900s as tandoor. Kundan Lal Gujral's Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi popularized tandoori chicken after 1947. Today, tandoor means a cylindrical clay oven used for baking bread and roasting meat.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic/Persian · ancient tannur "a clay oven", an ancient word for a clay oven.
2. Stage 2 · Punjabi/Hindi · medieval tandur "a clay oven", the traditional clay oven used across South Asia.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1900s tandoor "a cylindrical clay oven", Kundan Lal Gujral's Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi popularized tandoori chicken after 1947.