ghee

See also: Ghee

English

ghee.

Alternative forms

• ghi

Etymology

From Hindustani گھی‎ (ghī) / घी (ghī), from Sanskrit घृत (ghṛta, “sprinkled”). Attested in English since the late 17th century. Related to Christ and grime via Proto-Indo-European.

Pronunciation

• enPR: gē, IPA^(key): /ɡiː/
• (South Asia) IPA^(key): [ɡʱiː]
• Homophone: gi
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

ghee (usually uncountable, plural ghees)

1. A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee.
   • 1845, T.A. Wise, Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine‎^[1], page 140:

     Of the medicines for relaxing the body; ghee, oil, charbi, marrow, and such are to be used; of these ghee is the best, as it is produced from milk, which is obtained from the cow.

   • 2022 October 17, Priya Krishna, “It’s Not Diwali Without Mithai”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Employees furiously pack ornate boxes containing laddoos enriched with ghee, spongy rasgula and all manner of colorful sweets, often made with dairy, sugar and nuts and sometimes topped with a layer of edible silver foil.

2. (South Asia) Vegetable oil for cooking.
   • 1973, Madhur Jaffrey, An Invitation to Indian Cooking:

     There are two kinds of ghee. Usli ghee or clarified butter is used rarely, partly because of its expense and partly because Indians consider it "heavy". The more commonly used ghee is a mixture of various vegetable oils.

Translations

South Asian-style clarified butter

• Arabic: سَمْن حَيَوَانِيّ‎ m (samn ḥayawāniyy)

  Egyptian Arabic: سمنة‎ m (sámna)

  Moroccan Arabic: سمن‎ m (smen)

• Ashkun: anā́
• Assamese: ঘিঁউ (ghĩu), ঘিউ (ghiu)
• Bengali: ঘি (bn) (ghi)
• Bhojpuri: घीव (ghīv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 酥油 (zh) (sūyóu)

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: ghi (fi)
• French: ghî (fr) m, ghee (fr) m
• Georgian: ერბო (erbo)
• German: Ghee (de) n
• Gujarati: ઘી (gu) n (ghī)
• Halegannada: ತುಪ್ಪ (tuppa)
• Hebrew: גהי‎
• Hindi: घी (hi) m (ghī), घृत (hi) m (ghrit), मक्खन (hi) m (makkhan)
• Japanese: ギー (gī)
• Kamkata-viri:

  Kamviri: anū́

  Kata-vari: anév

• Kannada: ತುಪ್ಪ (kn) (tuppa)
• Konkani: तूप (tūp)
• Maharastri Prakrit: 𑀢𑀼𑀧𑁆𑀧 (tuppa)
• Maithili: घी (ghī)
• Malay: minyak sapi (ms)
• Malayalam: നെയ്യ് (ml) (neyyŭ)
• Marathi: घी (ghī), तूप (tūp)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nepali: घिउ (ne) (ghiu), घ्यू (ne) (ghyū)
• Pāli: sappi
• Portuguese: ghee m
• Punjabi: ਘਿਉ m (ghiu)
• Rohingya: gíi
• Russian: топлёное ма́сло n (topljónoje máslo), гхи (ru) n (gxi)
• Sanskrit: घृत (sa) n (ghṛta)
• Sinhalese: ගිතෙල් (gitel)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swahili: samli (sw)
• Swedish: skirat smör
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tamil: நெய் (ta) (ney)
• Telugu: నెయ్యి (te) (neyyi)
• Thai: เนยใส (th) (nəəi-sǎi)
• Tocharian B: peṣke
• Turkish: sarı yağ (tr)
• Urdu: گھی‎ m (ghī)
• Vietnamese: bơ sữa trâu lỏng
• Waigali: ënëvřë

See also

• butter oil
• clarified butter

References

• “ghee”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Portuguese

Noun

ghee m (plural ghees)

1. ghee (South Asian style clarified butter)