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banh mi

(bän mē′)

1. A sandwich of Vietnamese origin made with various meats, pickled or fresh vegetables, and usually sriracha or another spicy condiment, served in a baguette that is traditionally made with both wheat flour and rice flour.

2. The bread used for this kind of sandwich.

[Vietnamese bánh mì, bread, baguette : bánh, cake, noodles, any food made from flour (from Early Middle Chinese piajŋ', round flat cake; also the source of Mandarin bǐng) + mì, noodles, wheat (from a Chinese topolectal source such as Fujian mī, noodles).]

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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