baklava

American  

[bah-kluh-vah, bah-kluh-vah] / ˈbɑ kləˌvɑ, ˌbɑ kləˈvɑ /

Or baklawa

noun

1. a Near Eastern pastry made of many layers of paper-thin dough with a filling of ground nuts, baked and then drenched in a syrup of honey and sometimes rosewater.

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baklava British  

/ ˈbɑːkləˌvɑː /

noun

1. a rich cake of Middle Eastern origin consisting of thin layers of pastry filled with nuts and honey

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Etymology

Origin of baklava

Borrowed into English from Turkish around 1815–25

Example Sentences

“Throughout the Middle East, cardamom scents rice pudding; baklava; and, perhaps most important, qahwah, or cardamom-spiced coffee,” writes Steve Dunn for America’s Test Kitchen.

From Salon • Jan. 25, 2026

Over glasses of tea and helpings of baklava, I ask if he and his family would move back.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

After the hummus and seven vegetable salads, the meal unfolded with sweet-and-salty pistachio-dusted halloumi baklava, tender beef shashlik over creamy black-garlic toum, and a guava sorbet sundae.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

But I had to admit I’d never made baklava.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2023

He orders baklava for me, and I am so hungry that I steal a piece from the bag when he’s not looking.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi