Dothraki Words for Food and Cooking — Vocabulary of the Horse Lords

Dothraki Words for Food and Cooking

The Dothraki are warriors who live on horseback — but they still eat, drink, and feast. Their vocabulary of food, fire, and hospitality is small but precise, and every word reveals something about how the khalasars live.

This guide covers the full Dothraki vocabulary of cooking, eating, and the sacred meals that bind a khalasar together. With pronunciation, context from Game of Thrones, and notes on which words you'll hear if House of the Dragon ever turns east — see our HotD × Dothraki connections guide.

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The basics — words you'll hear at any Dothraki camp

Dothraki	Pronunciation	English
havzhi	HAV-zhee	Meat
hrakkar	HRAK-kar	Mare's milk (fermented)
ohazh	O-hazh	Bread (mostly looted from Free Cities)
vorsa	VOR-sah	Fire
jelli	JEL-lee	Cheese (rare, traded)
qora	KO-rah	Drinking-vessel
ezo	E-zoh	Salt (precious; trade good)
jin	JIN	This (meal, food)
ajjin	AJ-jin	Now (used in "let us eat now")
adakhras	AH-dahk-hras	Hunger

The most important: havzhi (meat) is the base word for almost everything that gets eaten. Other meats are formed by compounding — havzhi hrazef (horse meat), havzhi yet'th (deer meat).

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Meat — the heart of Dothraki cuisine

Dothraki cuisine is meat-first, vegetable-rarely. The vocabulary reflects it.

Dothraki	Translation	Notes
havzhi hrazef	Horse meat	The most common Dothraki food, also ceremonial
havzhi vezh	Stallion meat	High-honor meat, reserved for khals and ceremonies
havzhi yet'th	Game meat (deer, antelope)	Hunted on the move
havzhi rhaeshi	Bird meat	Looked down on; "small food"
havzhi qoyi	"Bloody meat"	Raw meat — especially the horse heart
qoy	Blood	Used as a flavoring, drunk straight in some ceremonies
tih	Bone (for broth, weapons)	Nothing is wasted
jad	Fat (rendered for cooking)	Precious; traded

Khal Drogo and his warriors eat havzhi vezh most often — stallion meat, the kind reserved for the most honored riders. Daenerys's wedding feast in season 1 included this meat for every guest.

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The horse heart ceremony — vocabulary and meaning

This is the most famous Dothraki meal. It's mentioned more often than any other food event in Game of Thrones.

When a Khaleesi is pregnant with a khalakka (heir), she must eat a raw stallion's heart, whole, in front of the dosh khaleen (council of widowed khaleesi). The act is a divination: if she eats the entire heart without vomiting, the child will be a great khal. If she fails, the child is cursed.

Dothraki	Translation	Role in the ceremony
Vezh fin saja rhaesheseres	"The stallion who mounts the world"	The prophesied khal who unites all khalasars
Khalakka dothrae mr'anha	"A khalakka rides within me"	What Daenerys says at the ceremony
Khalakka dothrae!	"A khalakka rides!"	What the dosh khaleen cry in response
Vezhven	"Magnificent" / "stallion-like"	The ritual word of praise
Qoy	"Blood"	What stains the khaleesi's chin during the meal

Daenerys's ceremony in Game of Thrones season 1 episode 6 is one of the most powerful Dothraki-language scenes in the show. The actress Emilia Clarke memorized her Dothraki speech phonetically — it remains one of the most-watched conlang-on-screen moments ever filmed.

For the broader ceremonial vocabulary: Dothraki battle cries and Daenerys Dothraki phrases.

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Drinks

The Dothraki drink heavily, especially after a successful raid. The vocabulary leans surprisingly elaborate for a "simple warrior culture."

Dothraki	Pronunciation	English
hrakkar	HRAK-kar	Fermented mare's milk — the staple
qoyi	KOY-ee	Blood (drunk in ceremonies)
evi	E-vee	Water (rarely drunk pure — usually mixed)
zhokwa	ZHOK-wah	Stewed-meat broth
eveth	E-veth	Wine (looted from Free Cities, called "city milk" sarcastically)
eshna	ESH-nah	A toast — said before drinking
qora hrakkari	KO-rah hrak-KAR-ee	"Cup of mare's milk" — the standard offering of hospitality

Hrakkar is the most-mentioned Dothraki drink. It's fermented overnight in leather pouches strapped to the saddle, picking up flavor from horse sweat and motion. The Dothraki insist it tastes best after a full day's ride; outsiders gag on it.

For the ceremonial drinking traditions: Dothraki songs and lullabies.

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Fire and cooking — the verbs

The Dothraki don't have refined cuisine, but they do have verbs of cooking. The most common:

Dothraki	Translation	When used
vorsa	Fire (noun)	The cooking-fire, the raid-fire, the funeral-fire
vorsakemma	"Fire-cook" — to roast	The default Dothraki cooking verb
adakhat	To eat	The most common food verb
zaja	To drink	Used for hrakkar, water, blood
gachi	To prepare (food, weapons)	A skilled verb — gachi is something a man earns the right to do
vatterat	To serve (food)	Often done by women and youth
qoyaki	To bleed (an animal for meat)	A respected skill

The Dothraki have no separate word for "cooking school" or "chef" — preparing food is something every Dothraki adult does. But they do have jaqqa rhan — "the merciful man," the executioner who slits the throats of injured warhorses. That word's existence (and its absence in any "cook" form) tells you everything about Dothraki priorities.

For ceremonial roles: Dothraki language basics.

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Hospitality phrases — what to say at the meal

If you're ever a guest in a khalasar, these are the phrases to memorize.

Athchomar chomakaan, [Khal name] — "Respect to one who is respected, [Khal]" (formal greeting to the host)

Eshna jin qora — "A toast to this cup" (before drinking)

Athchomari yeraan — "Respect to you" (to a higher-ranking Dothraki)

Vezhven havzhi — "The meat is magnificent" (compliment to the host)

Hrakkar shieraki — "Mare's milk of the stars" — an idiom meaning "the best hrakkar" — said after the first drink as a compliment

San athchomari yeraan — "Much respect to you" (the strongest thanks)

A Dothraki host who hears vezhven havzhi from a guest is satisfied. A host who doesn't hear it... isn't. There is no neutral compliment in Dothraki. You either say the meat is magnificent or you say nothing.

For more on the cultural register: Dothraki proverbs.

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Food in idioms

The Dothraki use food metaphorically more than any other language Peterson built. Some examples:

Idiom	Literal	Real meaning
Adakhi hrakkar	"He drinks mare's milk"	"He is a man among Dothraki" — accepts the rough drink
Adakhi havzhi qoyi	"He eats bloody meat"	"He is a true warrior" — accepts the harshest food
Lekhaan ifakaan	"Tongue of city-people"	"Soft food / cooked thoroughly" — almost an insult
Ezo at jin	"Salt to this (meal)"	"Spice it up" — but also: "make a fight of it"
Yeraan hrakkar at jin	"(I give) you mare's milk to this"	"I make you welcome" — the classical hospitality offering

For more on the idiomatic Dothraki: Dothraki insults and our broader idiom guide on Klingon idioms.

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Foods the Dothraki don't eat

Just as telling: what's missing from the Dothraki diet, and the corresponding gaps in their vocabulary.

• Pork — Dothraki do not raise pigs. They have no word for pork meat. They will eat wild boar (havzhi rhaesh, "land-pig meat") but consider it foreign.
• Fish — Almost no fish-related vocabulary. The Dothraki avoid water and don't typically swim. Fish is "yet'th evethi" (water-deer), which is mildly insulting.
• Cooked vegetables — No word for it. Vegetables are qora ifaki — "city-trash." Even raw vegetables are barely tolerated.
• Sweet foods — Honey and sugar are foreign concepts. Borrowed words from Valyrian or Lhazareen exist but aren't part of native Dothraki vocabulary.
• Bread — ohazh is borrowed from Free Cities trade. Dothraki acknowledge it grudgingly but consider it weak food.

This is one of the most beautiful design choices in Peterson's Dothraki: the lexical gaps tell you the culture's values as clearly as the words it has.

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Vocabulary list — 30 essential Dothraki food words

For quick reference:

1. havzhi — meat
2. hrazef — horse
3. vezh — stallion (used for the meat of a great horse)
4. qoyi — blood
5. vorsa — fire
6. hrakkar — fermented mare's milk
7. eveth — wine (Free-Cities import)
8. evi — water
9. qora — drinking-vessel
10. ezo — salt
11. ohazh — bread
12. jad — fat
13. tih — bone
14. jelli — cheese
15. yet'th — antelope/deer
16. rhaeshi — bird
17. adakhras — hunger
18. adakhat — to eat
19. zaja — to drink
20. gachi — to prepare
21. vorsakemma — to roast
22. vezhven — magnificent (= delicious, for honored food)
23. eshna — toast
24. athchomar — respect (used in food greetings)
25. khalakka — heir (subject of the horse-heart ceremony)
26. dosh khaleen — council of widows (witnesses ceremonies)
27. qoyaki — to bleed an animal
28. vatterat — to serve
29. jaqqa rhan — merciful man (executioner of horses)
30. vezhof — Stallion-god (recipient of all sacred meals)

For the broader vocabulary, see Dothraki vocabulary list — 100 words.

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Why food vocabulary matters for the show

If House of the Dragon ever turns east, food scenes are where Dothraki vocabulary will shine. Battle is mostly visual. But a feast scene — wedding, coronation, alliance — requires extended dialogue. The Dothraki vocabulary above is what conlang director David J. Peterson would draw on.

Watch the feast scenes from Game of Thrones season 1 with subtitles. Listen for vezhven, hrakkar, qora, eshna. Once you recognize them, you'll catch every Dothraki feast in any future spinoff.

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Further reading

• Dothraki vocabulary list — 100 words — the broader list
• Dothraki language basics — grammar foundations
• Dothraki greetings — hospitality phrases
• Dothraki horse vocabulary — companion vocab
• Khaleesi meaning — for the horse-heart context
• David J. Peterson Dothraki — the conlanger behind the words

Vezhven havzhi. The meat is magnificent.