Jaiphal in English: nutmeg names in Hindi and Indian languages

One line per language, exactly as IFCT 2017's local-names list records nutmeg under food code G028: Hindi jaiphal; Marathi jayaphala; Gujarati jayaphad; Punjabi jaiphal; Bengali jayphal; Odia jaiphal; Assamese jaiphal; Kannada jayikayi mara; Telugu jajikaya; Tamil jathikai; Malayalam jathikai; Urdu jaifal; Sanskrit jatiphala. The English name is nutmeg and the botanical name is Myristica fragrans. Several languages share one spelling: Hindi, Punjabi, Odia and Assamese all print jaiphal, and Tamil and Malayalam both print jathikai. The table below repeats the list in the same language order, with the source printed under it.

Source: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN) local-names list. — means no name recorded in the source.

Jaiphal in English is nutmeg: one seed, two names for it. The botanical name is Myristica fragrans, and the Hindi word jaiphal sits close to the Sanskrit name the same list prints, jatiphala. So nutmeg meaning in Hindi is simply the name jaiphal; there is no separate Hindi word for the English term, and a pack that says jaiphal and one that says nutmeg hold the same seed. In English, nutmeg is the name the food tables use. Some Indian product labels keep the Hindi word in Latin letters; jaiphal and nutmeg both appear on shelves and in recipes.

North India: nutmeg in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu

Nutmeg in Hindi is jaiphal, the name IFCT 2017 prints, and Punjabi prints the same word. Urdu prints jaifal, one letter apart, and the Sanskrit name on record is jatiphala.

West India: jayaphala in Marathi, jayaphad in Gujarati

Marathi prints jayaphala and Gujarati jayaphad, two spellings for the same seed.

East India: jayphal in Bengali, jaiphal in Odia and Assamese

Bengali prints jayphal, while Odia and Assamese keep the Hindi spelling jaiphal.

South India: nutmeg in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam

Nutmeg in Kannada is jayikayi mara and nutmeg in Telugu is jajikaya. Tamil and Malayalam both print jathikai, the name the seed carries in those languages.

Two questions keep coming back to the nutmeg shelf, and both are about different things entirely.

• Jaiphal vs javitri. Jaiphal is the seed; javitri is its covering, and javitri in English is mace. The two grow as one fruit, and the difference between nutmeg and mace page compares them side by side.
• Jaiphal vs supari. Supari is not nutmeg. This page gives it no names of its own; the table above is the IFCT 2017 list for jaiphal.

Within the seed itself there is no confusion: jaiphal, jathikai, jajikaya and the rest are 13 names for one thing, and the how to use nutmeg page shows how the seed is grated into food.

The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is an evergreen native to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, as a 2022 essential-oil review in Phytotherapy Research records; the same review notes that the kernel is extensively used in Indian traditional medicines. A 2008 paper in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition opens with the observation that India has been recognized all over the world for spices and medicinal plants. The seed grows in Indian spice country today: COWBERRY's nutmeg comes from the spice-growing regions of Karnataka and Kerala, grown through traditional cow-based farming and sold whole as organic nutmeg. For what the seed gives per 100 g, the nutmeg nutrition facts 100g page carries the numbers; the full picture, names to storage, is on the nutmeg hub.

Is nutmeg jaiphal?

Yes. Nutmeg is the English name and jaiphal the Hindi name for one seed, Myristica fragrans, which IFCT 2017 lists under both. Marathi prints jayaphala, Bengali jayphal, Tamil and Malayalam jathikai, and so on across 13 Indian languages. A pack that says jaiphal holds the same thing as one that says nutmeg.

What is jaiphal in hindi?

Jaiphal is itself the Hindi word: it is nutmeg in Hindi, the name IFCT 2017 prints for the seed. The question usually comes from seeing the word on a pack and wanting the English meaning, which is nutmeg. In Urdu the spelling shifts to jaifal, and the Sanskrit record is jatiphala.

What is nutmeg in hindi?

Nutmeg in Hindi is jaiphal, and the same seed carries different names across India. The IFCT 2017 list records every name above. Gujarati prints jayaphad, Marathi jayaphala, Telugu jajikaya and Kannada jayikayi mara for the same seed.

Which part of jaiphal is used?

The seed, also called the kernel. It is the part of Myristica fragrans that Indian kitchens grate, and a 2022 review notes that the kernel is extensively used in Indian traditional medicines. Its covering, the aril, is mace, sold as javitri; the two are compared on the difference between nutmeg and mace page.

What is nutmeg called in Tamil and Kannada?

Nutmeg in Tamil is jathikai, the spelling IFCT 2017 prints, and Malayalam uses the same word. Nutmeg in Kannada is jayikayi mara, and in Telugu it is jajikaya. All four are the same seed; only the language changes the word on the pack.

Difference between jaiphal and supari?

They are different things, and only one of them is on this page. Jaiphal is nutmeg, the seed of Myristica fragrans, a cooking spice. Supari is something else: it is not nutmeg, so no names are given for it here. For jaiphal, the full 13-language list is above.