Hummus is an Arabic word (Ø­ÙÙØµ á¸¥ummuá¹£) meaning chickpeas, and the complete name of the prepared spread in Arabic is Ø­ÙÙØµ Ø¨Ø·Ø­ÙÙØ© á¸¥ummuá¹£ bi á¹­aá¸¥Ä«na, which means chickpeas with tahini. Spellings of the word in English can be inconsistent.