west▪ (Huehnergard2011:) Engl sesame, sesamoid, from Grk sēsamē, sēsamon, from a Sem source akin to Ug ššmn, Phoen ššmn, Aram šumšᵊmā, Ar simsim, all prob. from Akk šamaššammū ‘sesame’, back-formation from *šaman šammammī ‘oil of plants’, from šammī, gen.pl. of šammu ‘plant’ (šaman, bound form of šamnu ‘oil’; cf. Ar ↗samn). It is possible that the Akk form represents a folk etymology for an original form šamšamu, from a root *šmšm.