Name - Origin
Loukoumi is a sweet made of sugar, starch and almonds (Petrou-Poeitou, entry Λο(υ)κούμι,το, 78). Georgios Babiniotis notes that it is a sweet consisting of a translucent mass of cornstarch-based syrup, sprinkled with icing sugar, with the addition of colouring and flavouring substances, possibly nuts (Babiniotis 2005, entry λουκούμι,το, 1023).
ETYM. < turkish lokum < Arabic holqum (Babiniotis 2005, entry λουκούμι,το, 1023; Petrou-Poeitou 2013, entry Λο(υ)κούμι, 78) / Arabic luqmat; it is also called rahat-loukoum [that which relaxes the throat] (Petrou-Poeitou 2013, entry Λο(υ)κούμι, 78).
Additional information and bibliography
Babiniotis G. (2005), Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας. Με σχόλια για τη σωστή χρήση των λέξεων. Ερμηνευτικό, Ορθογραφικό, Ετυμολογικό, Συνωνύμων-Αντιθέτων, Κυρίων Ονομάτων, Επιστημονικών Όρων, Ακρωνυμίων, Centre for Lexicology, Athens, Greece.
Petrou-Poeitou E. (2013), Από πού κρατάει η σκούφια τους. Λέξεις και ιστορίες από τον κόσμο της γεύσης, Epiphaniou Publications, Nicosia.
Argyro Xenophontos, Tonia Ioakim