Sambar
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A Southeast Asian deer (Rusa unicolor).
- 2 A food preparation common in southern India and Sri Lanka, made of vegetables and lentils (usually pigeon peas, also called toor dal) in a spicy tamarind and lentil flour soup base. uncountable
"A couple of vegetables, sambar (spicy and sour lentils and vegetables boiled with masalas and spices), rasam (a hot and fiery lentil soup-like dish) and curds (yoghurt) served with heaps of rice and eaten in that order. A non-vegetarian version of the “meals” can be found in “Military” hotels."
- 3 a deer of southern Asia with antlers that have three tines wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"A couple of vegetables, sambar (spicy and sour lentils and vegetables boiled with masalas and spices), rasam (a hot and fiery lentil soup-like dish) and curds (yoghurt) served with heaps of rice and eaten in that order. A non-vegetarian version of the “meals” can be found in “Military” hotels."
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi सांभर (sāmbhar), साँभर (sāmbhar), from Sanskrit शम्बर (śambara, “a kind of deer”).
From Tamil சாம்பார் (cāmpār), from Marathi सांभार (sāmbhār)/सांबार (sāmbār, “curry”), from Old Marathi सांबार (sāṃbāra), from Sanskrit सम्भार (sambhārá, “materials required for a particular purpose, provision; collection of spices”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *sambʰārás, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sambʰārás, from Proto-Indo-European *sem-bʰor-ó-s, from *sem- (“together, one”) + *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”) + *-ós (deverbal suffix). Doublet of Anbar and ambar.
Related phrases
More for "sambar"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.