Doner kebab is a popular Middle Eastern–style sandwich made of spit-roasted meat (often lamb, beef, or chicken) shaved thin and served in pita or flatbread with vegetables and sauces. The term blends Turkish origins with modern fast-food usage, referring to the method of roasting meat on a vertical spit. In many regions it denotes both the meat and the assembled sandwich.
"I ordered a doner kebab with tomatoes, onions, and garlic sauce."
"The doner kebab stand near my office makes the best lamb version."
"We shared a doner kebab platter after the soccer game."
"For dinner, I’ll pick up a chicken doner kebab from the new place downtown."
Doner kebab derives from Turkish language. Doner comes from the Turkish verb donmek/dönmek meaning to turn or to rotate, referencing the rotating vertical spit on which the meat is cooked. Kebab (or kebap) is a loanword from Arabic kebāb or kebābāt, with roots in Persian kebāb and earlier Turkic culinary terms, all indicating grilled or roasted meat. The phrase began to appear in English-language menus in the late 20th century as Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine gained global popularity. In Turkish, dönmek literally means to turn around, which reflects the motion of the roast. The product became prominent in Europe and the UK as a fast-food staple, with adaptations using lamb, beef, or chicken and various sauces. Over time, doner kebab has come to denote both the meat and the prepared sandwich served in bread, often with salad and sauces, distinct from other roasted-meat dishes by its vertical-spit cooking method. The culinary adoption and naming conventions spread with immigration, urban food culture, and global street-food trends, making it a widely understood term across many cuisines and languages. First known usage in English appears mid-20th century in immigrant communities, with broader consumer usage expanding from the 1970s onward as doner kebab shops proliferated in Europe and North America.
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Words that rhyme with "Doner Kebab"
-bab sounds
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US: IPA /ˈdɒn.ər kɪˈbæb/ (stress on DON-er, second word with BI as in kebab). UK: /ˈdəʊ.nə kɪˈbæb/ (stress on DO-nər, with schwa-like first syllable and clear 'kebab' ending). AU: /ˈdə.nəˌkɪˈbæb/ (similar to UK, with slightly flatter vowels). Focus on: two-syllable first word with first-stressed, and a two-syllable second word with 'ba' as /bæ/ and final /b/.
Common errors: 1) Putting stress on kebab (doner kebab) instead of DO-nər; 2) Saying ‘doe-ner’ or ‘dorn-er’ for the first word; 3) Mispronouncing kebab as ‘ke-bab’ with strong second syllable stress. Corrections: keep Doner with two unstressed vowels and primary stress on the first syllable; pronounce kebab as /kɪˈbæb/ (short i, short a, final b) and avoid fusing into one word.
US: flatter vowels, rhotic r, /ˈdɒn.ər/ first word. UK: longer /əʊ/ in the first vowel, non-rhotic, /ˈdəː.nə/ or /ˈdəʊ.nə/. AU: similar to UK with Australian vowel qualities, more nasalized /ˈdə.nə/ and less rhotic. Across all, kebab remains /kɪˈbæb/ with a clear /bæb/ ending, but the first word’s vowel and vowel reduction differ.
The difficulty comes from Turkish-origin syllable structure and vowel contrasts: /ˈdɒn.ər/ or /ˈdəʊ.nə/ has reduced vowels and the /ə/ schwa. The second word uses a clipped /kɪˈbæb/ with a short vowel in the first syllable and a final /b/ that can be swallowed in fast speech. The combination of multi-syllable phrases and rapid, casual speech contributes to mispronunciations.
Note the two-syllable first word: Doner often sounds like /ˈdɒn.ər/ or /ˈdə.nə/ depending on accent. The second word has the vowel split /kɪˈbæb/ with a clear /i/ in the first syllable and a short /æ/ in the second before final /b/. Tap or stop the final /b/ crisply to avoid an extra vowel.
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