Humus vs. hummus

Photo of author

Grammarist

Hummus is the creamy, chickpea-based dip. The word has a few alternative spellings, including houmous, hommus, and houmos, but these are rarely used in today’s English. Humus is fully decomposed organic matter, sometimes used in gardening to improve the fertility of soil.

Examples

I love all things Mediterranean, especially hummus, but I have always been slightly nervous to make my own. [Living Well Spending Less]

Over time, this organic matter will be broken down by soil organisms creating beautiful dark humus. [Guardian]

At one, Al Mallah, a dark-eyed Lebanese waiter ferries fresh pomegranate juice, hummus doused with olive oil and a crunchy fattoush salad to my table. [Sydney Morning Herald]

He put in a series of cinder-block terraces, heavily mulched with forest humus and horse stable bedding, and started planting. [Los Angeles Times]