How to say "hummus / chickpeas" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaninghummus / chickpeas
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
حُمُّص
ḥummuṣחמץ
حمص
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
חומוס
khumusخُومُوس
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ح-م-صModern Hebrew חומוס is a straightforward loan of Arabic ḥummuṣ, both the chickpea itself and the paste made from it. Some older dictionaries also link the root ح-م-ص, distantly and speculatively, to Hebrew ח-מ-ץ, 'sour, leavened' — soured legumes — but that reach outruns the evidence; the safe, documented story is the direct modern loan.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
حمّص
ḥemmeṣחמץDarija: ḥemmeṣ — chickpeas, the whole legume rather than the dip.
In a phrase
حُمُّص وَطَحِينَة
ḥummuṣ wa-ṭaḥīnaחמץ וטחינהhummus and tahini