Word.ws English Dictionary

salep

Syllables: sa·lepUK/ˈsæləp/

salep noun: a starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids (Orchis mascula). Also the alternative form of saloop.

Noun

salep (countable and uncountable, plural saleps)

  1. A starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids (Orchis mascula).
    • Where finally the draining of marſhy grounds can not be effected at a reſponſible expence, ſome plants may perhaps be cultivated with profit to the cultivator; as in ſome ſituations the feſtica fluitans, floating feſcue, callitriche, ſtar-graſs; or in others the orchis for the purpoſe of making...1800, Erasmus Darwin, “Sect. XI. Of Draining and Watering Lands.”, in Phytologia: Or The Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening. With the Theory of Draining Morasses and with an Improved...
    • In Turkey, Iran, and Syria salep is popular as a restorative and also as a provocative to amatory activity.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 213

Also used as

salep is also the alternative form of saloop.

salep meaning in Arabic

salep in Arabic

aromatic drink originally made with salep
سَحْلَب saḥlab

Forms of salep

pluralsaleps
alternative formsaleb
alternative formsaloop
alternative formsalop

Origin of salep

Borrowed from French salep, borrowed from Turkish salep, from Ottoman Turkish سالپ (sālep), borrowed from Arabic سَحْلَب (saḥlab), from خُصَى الثَعْلَب (ḵuṣā aṯ-ṯaʕlab), from خُصَى (ḵuṣā) + ثَعْلَب (ṯaʕlab), literally “fox testicles”.

Questions about salep

What does salep mean?
Salep means a starch or jelly made out of plants in the Orchidaceae family, such as early-purple orchids (Orchis mascula).
What is salep in Arabic?
Salep in Arabic is سَحْلَب (saḥlab). See Salep meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is salep?
Salep is a noun.
How do you pronounce salep?
Salep is pronounced /ˈsæləp/ (UK).
What is the plural of salep?
The plural of salep is saleps.

Words near salep in the dictionary

  1. Salems
  2. Salenger
  3. salenixon
  4. Salentine
  5. Salento
  6. salep
  7. saleps
  8. saler
  9. saleratus
  10. saleratuses
  11. salering

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: salep (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.

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