Names and etymology[edit source | editbeta]
The English name came from modern Greek mousakás (μουσακάς). The Greek name came from the Turkish musakka designating roughly the same recipe. The same name and recipe is found throughout the lands that formerly were part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Turkish name came from Arabic musaqa‘h (مسقعة), which in Arabic means moussaka but comes from an Arabic root literally meaning "chilled".[1] In Arabic countries a variant of the same recipe is eaten cold. A popular Middle Eastern recipe called İmam bayıldı (it has that name in Turkish, Arabic and Greek) is eaten cold and is similar to moussaka. Moussaka is eaten warm.