Editing Falafel (section)

==Etymology==

The word {{transliteration|ar|falāfil}} ({{langx|ar|فلافل}}) is Arabic and is the plural of ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA-LC|filfil}}'' ({{lang|ar|[[wikt:فلفل|فلفل]]}}) 'pepper',<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[American Heritage Dictionary]]|edition=5th|year=2011|title=falafel|url=http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=falafel&submit.x=38&submit.y=12}}</ref> borrowed from [[Persian language|Persian]] {{transliteration|fa|felfel}} ({{lang|fa|فلفل}}),<ref>{{Cite web|title=دیکشنری آنلاین - Dehkhoda dictionary - معنی پلپل|url=https://abadis.ir/?lntype=dehkhoda,fatofa,moeen,amid,name,wiki,wikiislamic&word=%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%BE%D9%84&from=ac|access-date=2021-01-06|website=abadis.ir|archive-date=6 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306165047/https://abadis.ir/?lntype=dehkhoda,fatofa,moeen,amid,name,wiki,wikiislamic&word=%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%BE%D9%84&from=ac|url-status=live}}</ref> cognate with the [[Sanskrit]] word ''{{transliteration|sa|pippalī}}'' ({{lang|sa|पिप्पली}}) 'long pepper'; or an earlier {{transliteration|arc|*filfal}}, from Aramaic {{transliteration|arc|pilpāl}} 'small round thing, peppercorn', derived from ''palpēl'' 'to be round, roll'.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of falafel {{!}} Dictionary.com|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/falafel|access-date=2021-01-03|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en|archive-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106204535/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/falafel|url-status=live}}</ref>

The name {{transliteration|ar|falāfil}} is used world-wide. In English (where it has been written ''falafel'', ''felafel'', ''filafel'' and ''filafil''), it is first attested in 1936.<ref>The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] (3rd ed., March 2022) has a [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/69033 1936 citation].</ref>

Falafel is known as {{transliteration|arz|taʿmiya}} ({{langx|arz|طعمية}} ''{{transliteration|arz|ṭaʿmiyya}}'', {{IPA|ar|tˤɑʕˈmejjɑ|IPA}}) in Egypt and Sudan. The word is derived from a [[diminutive]] form of the Arabic word ''{{transliteration|ar|ALA-LC|ṭaʿām}}'' ({{lang|ar|طعام}}, "food"); the particular form indicates "a unit" of the given [[Semitic root|root]] in this case ''{{transliteration|sem|Ṭ-ʕ-M}}'' ({{lang|ar|ط ع م}}, having to do with taste and food), thus meaning "a little piece of food" or "small tasty thing".<ref name="Oxford Press">{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Alan|author2=Jaine, Tom|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|edition=2nd|page=287|isbn=978-0-19-280681-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTr-ouCbL2AC&q=falafel&pg=PA287|access-date=April 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Vegetarian Journal 2001-04-01" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Ham|first=Anthony|title=Africa|year=2010|publisher=Lonely Planet|location=Footscray, Victoria|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-jEEqvIqi4C&pg=PA199|page=199|isbn=978-1-74104-988-6|access-date=July 19, 2011}}</ref>

The word ''falafel'' can refer to the fritters themselves or to sandwiches filled with them.