halva
/hɑːlˈvɑː/
halva noun: a confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Noun
halva (countable and uncountable, plural halvas)
- A confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
- Just before Christmas, Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, sent the White House a box of holiday gifts with a pointed political message. Inside were items (body lotion, halvah, olive oil) produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.2016 January 26, Eyal Press, “When ‘Made In Israel’ Is a Human Rights Abuse”, in The New York Times
halva meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
halva in Hindi
- confection
- हलवा halvā, मोहनभीग mohanbhīg
halva in Tamil
- confection
- ஹல்வா halvā, அல்வா alvā
halva in Marathi
- confection
- हलवा halvā
halva in Urdu
- confection
- حلوہ halvā
More languagesFewer languages
- halva in Bengali
- হালুয়া haluẏa
- halva in Malayalam
- അലുവ aluva
- halva in Punjabi
- ਹਲਵਾ halvā
- halva in Gujarati
- હલવો halvo
- halva in Assamese
- হালুৱা halua
- halva in Pashto
- حلوا halwã
- halva in Arabic
- حَلَاوَة طَحِيِنِيَّة ḥalāwa ṭaḥiyiniyya, حَلْوَى شَامِيَّة ḥalwā šāmiyya
- halva in Malay
- halwa
- halva in Persian
- حلوا halvâ
- halva in Vietnamese
- bánh hanva, bánh mật
- halva in Myanmar
- ဟလဝါ ha.la.wa
Forms of halva
| plural | halvas |
|---|---|
| alternative form | khalva |
| alternative form | halava |
| alternative form | halavah |
| alternative form | halawa |
| alternative form | halaweh |
| alternative form | halvah |
| alternative form | halwa |
| alternative form | halwah |
| alternative form | hulwa |
Origin of halva
From Yiddish חלווה (khálva), from Romanian halva, from Ottoman Turkish حلوا (helva), from Persian حلوا (halvâ), from Arabic حَلْوَى (ḥalwā). Cognate with Halwai.
Words formed from halva
Questions about halva
- What does halva mean?
- Halva means a confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
- What is halva in Hindi?
- Halva in Hindi is हलवा (halvā), मोहनभीग (mohanbhīg). See Halva meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is halva?
- Halva is a noun.
- How do you pronounce halva?
- Halva is pronounced /hɑːlˈvɑː/ (US).
- What is the plural of halva?
- The plural of halva is halvas.
Words near halva in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: halva (page history and authors); હલવો (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-halva.wav.
Cite this entry: “halva.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/halva. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.