noun
sambar
noun
1
A large deer native to South and Southeast Asia.
"A sambar stag with heavy antlers stepped out of the forest at dusk."
2
A South Indian dish of vegetables and lentils simmered in a spicy, tangy tamarind broth.
"She poured hot sambar over the rice and mixed it with her fingers."
How to Use Sambar
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a large Asian deer, or a spicy South Indian lentil-and-vegetable stew — two unrelated meanings that just happen to share a name.
Common mistake
Don't assume the two senses (the deer and the dish) are connected — they aren't.
Word Forms
sambars plural
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A _____ stag with heavy antlers stepped out of the forest at dusk.
Etymology
From Hindi sāmbhar, ultimately from a Sanskrit word for a kind of deer — the food dish is an unrelated later use of the same spelling.