sweet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /swiːt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English swete,^[2][3] inherited from Old English swēte (“pleasing to the senses, mind or feelings”),^[4][2] Mercian swoete,^[4] from Proto-Germanic *swōtijaz,^[2][4] the source also of Old Saxon swōti, Old Frisian swēt, Dutch zoet, Old High German suozi (German süß) and Old Norse sœtr.^[2][4][5] Outside Germanic it is cognate with Latin suāvis “pleasant”, Greek hēdús “sweet, pleasant” and Sanskrit svādú- “sweet”,^[2][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *swād- (“sweet, pleasant”).^[4][5] Latin suādēre “to advise”, properly “to make pleasant”, is from the same root.^[4][3] The noun is from the adjective.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English swēte is recorded before 830,^[2] and of taste, “pleasing to the sense of taste, having the taste of sugar”, about 888.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old English it was used of sounds pleasing to the ear and of persons with pleasant manners.^[4] “Pleasing to the eye, beautiful” is from the mid-14th century.^[4] The noun, “something sweet to the taste”, and a term of endearment, “beloved one”, are from about 1300.^[4][6] A sweet food or drink is from about 1400,^[4][6] a sweet dish served at the end of a meal from 1832,^[6] and a sweetmeat or candy drop from 1851, after earlier sweetie (1721).^[4][6] In jazz, music played at a steady tempo without improvisation was sweet by 1924, as opposed to hot.^[4] The meaning “fine, good” was originally Australian, from the 1890s.^[7] Sweetness and light is first used by Swift in The Battle of the Books (1704).^[7] Sweet Fanny Adams, “nothing at all”, recalls a girl murdered in 1867, whose name sailors gave to tinned meat.^[7] Compounds include sweetheart (13th century), sweetbread (1565) and sweet corn (1646, American).^[5][2]

Timeline

• before 830 – Old English swēte.^[2]
• c. 888 – of taste.^[6]
• c. 1300 – noun, something sweet; a beloved.^[4]
• mid-14th century – pleasing to the eye.^[4]
• c. 1400 – a sweet food.^[4][6]
• 1704 – sweetness and light.^[7]
• 1832 – a dessert.^[6]
• 1851 – a candy drop.^[4][6]
• 1890s – fine, good (Australian).^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having the taste of sugar or honey.
2. Pleasing to the senses: a sweet smell, a sweet voice.
3. Kind, gentle and pleasant.
4. Charming and attractive; cute.
5. Of water or air: fresh, not salty or stale.
6. (informal) Very good; excellent.

Noun

1. (British) A small piece of confectionery; a candy.
2. (British) A dessert.
3. A dear person, used as a term of endearment.

Word family

• sweetly
• sweetness
• sweetie
• sweetshop

Related words

• sweeten
• sweetheart
• suave
• persuade
• hedonism

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 h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press