candy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæn.di/^[1]

Etymology

It is short for sugar candy, Middle English sugre candy,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French sucre candi (“crystallized sugar”),^[4][5] and partly from Anglo-Latin candi.^[6] The French is a partial translation of Old Italian zucchero candi,^[2] and candi comes from Arabic qandī, crystallized into sugar, from Persian qand, cane sugar,^[6][4][2] probably from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa, “piece, sugar lump”).^[4][2][6] Barnhart and MWU take the Sanskrit to be of Proto-Munda origin, Etymonline perhaps Dravidian.^[6][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Crystallized sugar: 1274 in Barnhart and the late 13th century in Etymonline;^[6][4] the OED dates candy, crystallized sugar made by repeated boiling, to about 1420.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to preserve fruit by boiling with sugar, is from 1533, perhaps by influence of French candir, since sucre candi was understood as a past participle;^[6][7][2] the figurative sense, to sweeten or make pleasant, is from 1592,^[7] and to encrust with something crystalline, such as hoarfrost, from 1607.^[7] Candied is from 1600.^[6] The sense gradually broadened, especially in the United States, until by the late 19th century candy was any confection with sugar as its base; in Britain these are sweets, and candy tends to mean only sweets of boiled sugar in bright stripes.^[4][8] A candy pull, a gathering of young people to make and eat candy, is from 1865.^[4] Collins records the informal arm candy, an attractive but superficial companion.^[8]

Timeline

• 1274 – crystallized sugar.^[6]
• 1533 – the verb, to candy fruit.^[6][7]
• 1592 – to sweeten, figuratively.^[7]
• 1600 – candied.^[6]
• 1865 – candy pull.^[4]
• late 19th century – any sugar confection, in the US.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly North America) Sweet food made with sugar, often with fruit, nuts or chocolate; sweets collectively, or a single piece.
2. Crystallized sugar made by repeated boiling.

Verb

1. To cook, preserve or coat with sugar or syrup.
2. To reduce to sugar crystals.
3. To make pleasant or agreeable; to sweeten.

Word family

• candylike
• candygram
• candy-ass
• candy-striped
• candy floss
• candy stripe
• candy striper
• cotton candy

Related words

• sugar candy
• candied
• sugar

Usage notes

A different candy, a weight used in southern and western India, is from Marathi khaṇḍī (1618).^[7][9][2] In Aberdeen dialect candy also meant glue.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)