‘Kosher’ and ‘hummus’ added to official Spanish language dictionary

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Royal Spanish Academy added the words “kosher” and “hummus” to the latest update of the online version of its official dictionary.

The words will appear in the next print edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language to be published next year.

The Royal Spanish Academy, or RAE, is the main institution that establishes and reinforces the use of the Spanish language worldwide.

Approximately 570 million people around the world speak Spanish. The countries with the most Spanish speakers are: Mexico with 122 million, the United States with 57 million, Colombia with 48 million, Spain with 47 million and Argentina with 44 million.

Spanish is the most common second language spoken in the United States, which is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.

RAE defined “kosher” in its online version 23.1 of the dictionary as: “A product, a meal, a menu, etc. 1. Obtained or prepared according to the precepts of Judaism. 2. Said of an establishment: selling or serving kosher products.”

“Hummus” is defined in the dictionary as “Chickpea paste typical of Arabic cuisine, usually seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sesame cream and garlic.”

Both words were presented on December 20 as part of the first update of the online dictionary, available since 2015 and the main source for online searches about the correct use of the Spanish language.

The online dictionary will end this year with thousands of million searches, “approaching a billion” searches, according to RAE authorities.

Based in Madrid, Spain, RAE is the institution that centralized the normative use of the language among 23 national institutions of the Hispanic world, mostly located in Central America and Latin America