Suhoor
/suːˈhʊər/noun
The meal eaten before dawn during the daily fast of Ramadan or another Islamic fast.
Did you know?Suhoor comes from the Arabic word for the final part of the night before dawn, while the similarly spelled Arabic word for magic, siḥr, is a separate meaning rather than the meal’s literal origin.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*š-ḥ-r
“A reconstructed root associated with the period before dawn; the exact prehistoric form is uncertain.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
saḥar
“The last portion of the night immediately before dawn.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
suḥūr
“A meal or act of eating during the pre-dawn period.”
Medieval Islamic Arabic
Arabic
suḥūr
“The pre-dawn meal taken before beginning a day of fasting.”
20th Century
English
suhoor
“An English transliteration used for the pre-dawn Ramadan meal.”