tahini
/tɑːˈhiː.ni/
"tahini" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tahini” is an uncommon English word, ranked #66,331 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #66,331
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A paste made from ground sesame seeds, and used to make hummus, baba ghanoush etc.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tahini |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tɑːˈhiː.ni/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #66,331 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tahini” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tahini is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɑːˈhiː.ni/. Corpus data places it at rank #66,331 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A paste made from ground sesame seeds, and used to make hummus, baba ghanoush etc.".
tahini doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic طَحِينَة (ṭaḥīna), from the root ط ح ن (ṭ-ḥ-n) related to grinding. Final -i most probably from North Levantine dialects or from Greek ταχίνι (tachíni). The correct English form is tahini, spelled T-A-H-I-N-I.
Definition
- 1A paste made from ground sesame seeds, and used to make hummus, baba ghanoush etc.
Etymology
From Arabic طَحِينَة (ṭaḥīna), from the root ط ح ن (ṭ-ḥ-n) related to grinding. Final -i most probably from North Levantine dialects or from Greek ταχίνι (tachíni).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "tahini"?
What does "tahini" mean?
How do you pronounce "tahini"?
What is the origin of the word "tahini"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “tahini”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-H-I-N-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /tɑːˈhiː.ni/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.