Sabzi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to a variety of fresh vegetables, commonly used in Indian and South Asian cuisine
2. A word denoting edible greens or vegetables that are often sautéed or cooked with spices
3. A designation for assorted kinds of vegetables typically found in diverse dishes, highlighting their cultural significance in meals

Etymology: Sabzi comes to English from Hindi, where "सब्ज़ी" (sabzī) means cooked or fresh vegetables, and that Hindi word was itself borrowed from Classical Persian "سبزی" (sabzī). In Persian the root idea is greenness: the word is built on "sabz," meaning green, with the suffix "-ī" that turns a colour or quality into a noun for a thing or substance. So a bowl of sabzi is, quite literally, a bowl of "greenery." The word's journey follows the spread of Persian culture across South Asia. Persian served as the courtly and administrative language of the Mughal Empire, and Persian vocabulary entered Hindustani, the everyday speech of northern India, in large numbers. Sabzi became the ordinary word for vegetables in that world, and it came into English through the British presence in India, where it was used for the leafy and mixed vegetable dishes that were common in local cooking.

Synonyms: greens, vegetables, spinach, herbs, leafy greens