open sesame en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From its use in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, translating French Sésame, ouvre-toi in Antoine Galland's version of the Ali Baba story in the One Thousand and One Nights, possibly based on an oral Arabic source. Not, as some have purported, a corruption of Open, says me!.
Meanings
-
Any successful means of achieving a result, especially means that are magical or technical, or otherwise beyond the understanding of most people.
He who can read a true book aright has an open sesame to audiences with the great and wise of all time.
1905, John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin, page lv:"The blue topaz was bought by me, from the chieftain of the tribe to which Quacal belongs. It is an ‘open sesame’ to his favor."
1899, William Wallace Cook, “Aquastor”, in Overland Monthly, page 15:When Mussolini was a young chap, he dabbled with socialism, imagining it to be an open sesame to a better society.
2001 September 24, Gareth McLean, “Sympathy for a devil”, in The Guardian:Relevancy not always an open sesame having in mind the over-all authority and discretion of the trial judge.
1963, William J. Palmer, Trial Tactics in California, page 57:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| open sesames | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| open Sesame | alternative | lexicographic | |
| open, Sesame | alternative | lexicographic | |
| open, sesame | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (5)
it chiave di volta (successful means of achieving a result) · fr sésame (successful means of achieving a result) · fi taikasana (successful means of achieving a result) · fi seesam (successful means of achieving a result) · tr açıl susam açıl (successful means of achieving a result)
wikipedia: One Thousand and One Nights · wikipedia: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves · wikipedia: Antoine Galland