تھوم

Unknown. Possibly an early borrowing from Arabic ثُوم (ṯūm, “garlic”). If so, cognate with Urdu ثُوم (sūm).

The presence of th as opposed to the regular s suggests this term was borrowed directly from Arabic rather than via Classical Persian.

Compare Gojri تُھوم (thūm), Punjabi تھوم (thom), Saraiki تُھوم (thūm), Sindhi ٿُومَ (thūma).

تھوم (thūm)

1. garlic

Unknown.

• Possibly an early borrowing from Arabic ثُوم (ṯūm, “garlic”), as given by an Urdu dictionary,^[1] a shift (ie. th to s) of which is usually uncommon in Punjabi terms of Arabic origin. A Sindhi dictionary links the term to Arabic فُوم (fūm).^[2] The presence of th as opposed to the regular s suggests this term was borrowed directly from Arabic rather than via Classical Persian.

Compare Gojri تھُوم (thūm), Pahari-Potwari تُھوم (thūm), Saraiki تُھوم (thūm), Sindhi ٿُومَ (thūma) / ٿُومُ (thūmu).

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /t̪ʰoːmᵊ/
• Rhymes: -oːm

تھوم • (thom) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਥੋਮ)

1. garlic

   Synonym: لَسَݨ (lasaṇ)

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “تھوم”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• “تھوم”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026