Humus, with one m, is the dark decayed organic matter in soil. Hummus, with two, is the Levantine dip made from chickpeas and tahini. The spellings differ by a single letter and one of them is not food, so the distinction is worth getting right on a menu.
The core difference
Unrelated words that happen to land a letter apart in English.
- humus — decomposed organic matter that makes soil fertile.
- hummus — a dip of blended chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic.
Separate origins
Humus is Latin for ground or earth — the same root as humble and exhume, and arguably human, the earthly one. Hummus is from Arabic ḥummuṣ, chickpeas. They meet in English spelling only.
Spelling in the wild
Houmous, hommus and humous all appear on packaging, reflecting different transliterations of the Arabic. Humus for the soil sense has only one spelling.
Frequently asked questions
Which spelling is the food?
Hummus, with two m's. Humus with one m is soil matter.
Why are there so many spellings of hummus?
Because it is transliterated from Arabic, and different conventions produced houmous, hommus and others.
Are the words related?
No. Humus is Latin for earth; hummus is Arabic for chickpeas.