Dals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term that may refer to small pulses, legumes, or split peas commonly used in South Asian cuisine ; a plural form of a word denoting subdivisions or parts in various contexts ; a less common variant or misspelling referring to particles or fragments in specific dialects
2. Refers to edible dried split seeds such as lentils and peas used as staple foods ; denotes multiple segments or units divided from a whole in different scenarios ; alludes to small pieces or bits as variations of certain standard terms in regional usage
3. Describes various types of legumes processed into splits for cooking ; indicates plural forms of a term for portions or divisions within a system ; can represent colloquial or dialectal forms for tiny granular elements or crumbs

Etymology: Dals is the plural of dal, and the word as a noun is itself a borrowing. Dal came into English from Hindi, where it names split pulses such as lentils, peas and chickpeas, and the Hindi word in turn comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "to split." The sense of the Sanskrit is the key to the whole family of meanings: a dal is a seed that has been split in half, and the cooked dish of those split pulses became one of the staple foods of South Asian cooking. The plural dals is therefore used in the ordinary way for several kinds of these pulses at once, or for several portions of such food. English speakers have also borrowed the word's idea of division, so that the plural can refer to separate segments or units cut from a larger whole in different contexts. In some regional English usage it is applied more loosely to small pieces or bits, often as a variant of a more standard term.

Synonyms: lentils, pulses, beans, legumes