Shish
/ʃɪʃ/noun
A skewer, or meat cooked on a skewer, especially in the expression “shish kebab.”
Did you know?English inherited shish through the phrase shish kebab, while Turkish şiş still directly means “skewer” and can also refer to a knitting needle.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval Persian
Persian
sīx
“Skewer or spit”
Ottoman Turkish
Turkish
şiş
“Skewer; pointed rod”
19th Century
Turkish/English
şiş kebabı
“Meat cooked on a skewer”
Early 20th Century
English
shish kebab
“A dish of skewered and grilled meat”
Modern English
English
shish
“A skewer, or skewered meat, usually as a shortened form of shish kebab”