Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

halloumi

/həˈlumi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.01 in modern English

Syllables
hal-lou-mi
IPA
/həˈlumi/
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A traditional cheese from Cyprus, made from goat's and/or sheep's milk.

Uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from Greek χαλλούμι (challoúmi), from Cypriot Arabic xallúm, from Egyptian Arabic حَلُّوم, from Sahidic Coptic ϩⲁⲗⲱⲙ (halōm, “cheese”), or ⲁⲗⲱⲙ (alōm, “cheese”), itself in turn probably a borrowing from Semitic, though in manuscripts and ostraca from 2nd century Roman Egypt, Egyptian Demotic Egyptian ḥlm is also attested with the meaning "cheese".

Word Breakdown

  • Root: xallúm, حَلُّوم, ϩⲁⲗⲱⲙ, ḥlm

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /həˈlumi/
  • British English: /həˈluːmi/

Usage

Inflected Forms

halloumis (plural) hallumi (alternative) hallomi (alternative) halloomi (alternative) haloomi (alternative) haloumi (alternative) halumi (alternative) helloumi (alternative)

Questions

How do you pronounce halloumi?
The recorded pronunciation is /həˈlumi/.
What does halloumi mean?
A traditional cheese from Cyprus, made from goat's and/or sheep's milk.
Where does halloumi come from?
Borrowed from Greek χαλλούμι (challoúmi), from Cypriot Arabic xallúm, from Egyptian Arabic حَلُّوم, from Sahidic Coptic ϩⲁⲗⲱⲙ (halōm, “cheese”), or ⲁⲗⲱⲙ (alōm, “cheese”), itself in turn probably a borrowing from Semitic, though in manuscripts and ostraca from 2nd century Roman Egypt, Egyptian Demotic Egyptian ḥlm is also attested with the meaning "cheese".

How to pronounce halloumi

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “halloumi”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/həˈlumi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “halloumi”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “halloumi” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.