For years it has been known in the West as the “Turkish bagel”, but not anymore. The Turkish word “simit” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update. The OED is one of the largest dictionaries in the world and dates back 150 years. It adds about 1,000 new entries to its online version every year.
The donut-shaped bread is a breakfast staple in Turkey and is often eaten along with olives and cheese.
Prompting celebrations on social media as well as calls for a new emoji to represent the circular-shaped bread.
Simit is described by the dictionary as: “A type of ring-shaped bread roll originating in Turkey, typically coated with molasses and encrusted with sesame seeds before baking,” adding that, “Rolls of this type are widely eaten in Turkey and across the Middle East.”
First published in 1884 by Oxford University Press, the OED claims to be the “definitive record of the English language”, with over 600,000 words and 3 million quotations, spanning over 1,000 years of the spoken English language.
