ល្ពៅ
lpɨw
The Khmer word for pumpkin is ល្ពៅ (lpɨw).
ល្ពៅ is used to refer to the fruit of the pumpkin plant.
Meaning: fruit of this plant (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
lpɨw
Did you know?
- In Cambodia, pumpkins are more commonly found in savory stir-frys and coconut-based curries than in sweet pies or desserts.
- The word ល្ពៅ shares a distant linguistic ancestor with the Sanskrit word alābu, which actually refers to a bottle gourd rather than a pumpkin.
- In rural Cambodia, the dried shells of the ល្ពៅ were historically used as lightweight containers or floats.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំចូលចិត្តញ៉ាំល្ពៅ។khnhom chol chet nham lpoav.I like eating pumpkin.
- តើល្ពៅនេះថ្លៃប៉ុន្មាន?tae lpoav nih thlai ponman?How much is this pumpkin?
- មានល្ពៅនៅក្នុងកន្ត្រក។mian lpoav nov knong kantrok.There is a pumpkin in the basket.
Example conversation
At a local market, Narong is buying vegetables from Chinta.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongចិន្តា តើមានល្ពៅទេ?chinta tae mian lpoav te?Chinta, do you have pumpkin?
- ចិន្តា Chindaមានតើ ណារ៉ុង ចង់បានប៉ុន្មាន?mian tae narong chong ban ponman?Yes, Narong, how much do you want?
- ណារ៉ុង Narongខ្ញុំសុំយកល្ពៅមួយគ្រាប់។khnhom som yok lpoav mouy kroab.I would like one pumpkin.
- ចិន្តា Chindaបាន តោះ ខ្ញុំវេចជូន។ban toh khnhom vech chun.Okay, let me wrap it for you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “pumpkin” translations and entries ល្ពៅ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ល្ពៅ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
