caramel

Forms

caramel m (plural caramels)^[1] Also used as an invariable adjective of colour: des tissus caramel.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish caramelo (earlier also caramel, recorded from 1601), which is from Portuguese caramelo (“caramel, icicle”).^[4][5][2][1] The Portuguese word is probably from Late Latin calamellus (“little reed”), a diminutive of Latin calamus (“reed”), from the likeness in shape of hardened sugar or an icicle to a reed stem; the TLFi prefers this explanation, which is Corominas's, and Picoche, the Grand Robert and Rey follow it.^[4][3][5][6] Compare Catalan caramell (“icicle”) and Spanish carámbano (“icicle”), from another diminutive of the same Latin noun.^[4] The Latin noun was taken from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”).^[6]

An older view, held by the REW, the FEW and Bloch and Wartburg, takes the Spanish word from Medieval Latin cannamella (“sugar cane”), Bloch and Wartburg adding a cross with caramillo (“reed”); the TLFi objects that the change of /n/ to /r/ is hard to explain.^[4][7][8][9] Littré proposed an Arabic origin.^[10]

The word is a doublet of chalumeau, which is inherited from the same Late Latin diminutive.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Richelet records it in 1680 as sugar boiled hard, good for colds.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

At first the substance obtained by heating sugar was used as a remedy for colds; it then became a basic material of confectionery, and in the 19th century, by metonymy, the word came to name a sweet made with it.^[5][4] It also became a colour name, used in apposition or as an invariable adjective.^[5][2]

From it come caramêler (1735), later displaced by caraméliser (1825),^[5][4] which itself gave caramélisation (1832).^[5] English caramel was taken from French in 1725 for burnt sugar.^[11]

Timeline

• 1601 – Spanish caramelo is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1680 – Richelet records caramel.^[4][7]
• 1725 – English borrows it for burnt sugar.^[11]
• 1735 – The verb caramêler appears in cookery.^[4][5]
• 1825 – Se caraméliser is used of meat juices.^[5]
• 19th century – The word names a sweet.^[5]
• 1877 – Littré's Supplement records caramélé.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A brown, glossy, aromatic substance obtained by heating sugar, caramel: crème caramel.^[2][12][4]
2. A sweet made with caramel, a toffee: caramels mous, une boîte de caramels.^[2][12][4]
3. (nuclear engineering) A fuel element of small square plates of uranium oxide set side by side between two zirconium-alloy sheets.^[13]

Adjective

1. Light reddish brown, of the colour of caramel (invariable).^[2][12][13]

Word family

• caraméliser
• caramélé

Related words

• chalumeau
• calame
• chaume
• Spanish caramelo
• English caramel

Usage notes

In the sense of a sweet the word, sometimes written caramelle, is also used in the feminine in the French of Belgium and Luxembourg, a use that is criticised.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 206b
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)