sweetener

Etymology

It is formed from English sweeten + -er, an agent noun from the verb.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The verb sweeten is recorded from the 1550s, from sweet and the verb suffix -en; the earlier verb, from Old English swētan, had the same form as the adjective.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something that makes a thing pleasant or less unpleasant: about 1614, in W. Drummond's poem “Kisse”.^[1] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to the late 16th century,^[2] and Etymonline to the 1640s, figuratively of a person who sweetens.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The literal senses came later: an alkali or the like used to neutralize acidity, or something that enriches soil, from 1681,^[1][3] and something that gives a sweet taste from 1718.^[1] Etymonline finds it used of food additives by 1884,^[3] and the Shorter Oxford of low-calorie sugar substitutes.^[2] Of people, a sweetener was a flatterer or one who softens and palliates (1728–35);^[1] Johnson (1755) defined it as "one that palliates; one that represents things tenderly", quoting Swift.^[5] In criminal slang from 1698 a sweetener was a swindler who dropped something supposedly valuable for a victim to find, a decoy or cheat,^[6][1] and later, from 1823, someone who bid at an auction only to raise the price.^[1][2] The sense "inducement" (1741) grew into the colloquial "bribe": Green's Dictionary of Slang has a tip or bribe from 1830,^[1][6] and the Shorter Oxford notes its use in politics and business for a concession or inducement offered for a deal.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1614 – something that makes a thing pleasant or less unpleasant.^[1]
• 1681 – an alkali used to neutralize acidity; something that enriches soil.^[1][3]
• 1698 – slang, a swindler or decoy.^[6] The OED's first record is from 1699.^[1]
• 1718 – something that gives a sweet taste.^[1]
• 1728 – a flatterer, one who palliates (obsolete by 1735).^[1]
• 1741 – something gratifying; an inducement.^[1]
• 1823 – slang, someone who bids at an auction only to raise the price.^[1][2]
• 1830 – slang, a tip or bribe.^[6]
• 1859 – in painting, a brush for softening lines.^[1][2]
• by 1884 – a substance added to food to sweeten it.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A substance used to sweeten food or drink, especially a low-calorie sugar substitute: He takes two sweeteners in his coffee.^[7][2][8]
2. Something that makes a thing more pleasant or easier to bear.^[2][1][8]
3. (informal) An inducement or concession offered to make a deal more attractive.^[7][2][1]
4. (informal) A bribe.^[7][6][2]
5. (art) A brush used to soften lines in painting.^[2][1]
6. (slang, obsolete) A cheat or decoy.^[2][1][6]

Related words

• sweeten
• sweet

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster