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ma·sa·la

(mä-sälä)

Any of various mixtures of spices that are used in South Asian cuisine.

[Hindi and Urdu maṣāliḥ, masālā, ingredients, mixture of spices, from Persian masāleḥ, from Arabic maṣāliḥ, pl. of maṣlaha, benefit, from ṣalaḥa, to be good; see ṣlḥ in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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