Topic summary
Pilau
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Pilaf.
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online Edition's summary, the English word pilaf, which the OED refers to the version with spelling "pilau," is a borrowing from Persian by way of Turkish. In more detail, the English pilau, of first use 1609 CE, has come from Persian pulaw (16th cent. as palāv), in turn from Hindi pulāv dish of rice and meat, from Sanskrit pulāka ball of rice, probably from Dravidian (cf Tamil puḷukku (adjective) simmered, (noun) boiled or parboiled food, puḷukkal cooked rice); probably partly via French pilau (1654; 1680 as pilaw; 1833 as pilaf), Italian pilao (1542).