sucre

Forms

sucre m (plural sucres)^[1] Old French çucre (about 1175), zucre (about 1180), then sucre from the end of the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian zucchero (“sugar”), recorded in Italian from the 13th century,^[2][3][4][5] which is from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar).^[2][3][4] The Arabic word is of Indian origin, like Ancient Greek σάκχαρον (sákkharon) and Latin saccharum; the sources compare Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā), properly “grain”.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg add that it passed through Persia, where sugar was refined.^[4] Littré suggests that the Arabic form explains the ⟨u⟩ of the modern languages, against the ⟨a⟩ of the Latin word.^[6]

Sugar came to the Christian countries with the Arabs, who grew the cane in Andalusia and Sicily: from Sicily came the Italian word, borrowed by German Zucker and by French, and the English word sugar and Dutch suiker come from it, while Andalusia gave Spanish azúcar and Portuguese açúcar, which keep the Arabic article.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion (1176–1181), çucre is the sweet substance taken from the sugar cane, mixed there with gall: Et mesle çucre avoeques fiel.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Sugar was rare and was first used in pharmacy; it long remained a luxury.^[3][4] Old French already had sucre candi (13th century),^[3][7] and the classical age added sucre en poudre (1607), sucre d'orge (1644), first boiled with barley water, and sucre cristallisé (1765).^[3] Maple sugar is named in 1765;^[3] Olivier de Serres noticed sugar in the beet in 1605, and after sucre de betterave (1800) the plain word meant beet sugar in European French, cane sugar becoming sucre de canne (1808).^[3] In Canada les sucres is the spring season of the maple harvest, with its cabane à sucre.^[3] Un sucre “a lump of sugar” dates from 1901.^[3]

Figuratively, sucre meant sweetness of words or manners from the 15th century, often suspect, as in être tout sucre et tout miel (1661, Molière).^[2][3] Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un “to run someone down behind their back” is from 1868, perhaps from the hardness of sugar loaves; in 1867 slang casser du sucre also meant “to inform on an accomplice”.^[3][2] Medicine used it from 1824 for the sugar in the blood of diabetics, and chemistry from 1855 for any substance that ferments into alcohol.^[2]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – Çucre appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion.^[2]
• c. 1180 – The form zucre is found in the Vie de saint Gilles.^[2]
• late 13th century – The spelling sucre appears.^[2][3]
• before 1461 – Chastellain uses it for “sweetness”.^[2]
• 1644 – Sucre d'orge is recorded.^[3]
• 1661 – Molière writes être tout sucre et tout miel.^[2]
• 1800 – Sucre de betterave appears.^[3]
• 1824 – Medicine uses it for sugar in the blood.^[2]
• 1867 – Delvau records slang casser du sucre.^[2]
• 1901 – Un sucre means a lump of sugar.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sugar, the sweet substance made from sugar cane or beet: sucre de canne, sucre roux, sucre glace.^[8][9]
2. A lump of sugar: deux sucres dans mon café.^[8][3]
3. (chemistry) Any of the carbohydrates of sweet taste, such as glucose.^[8][2]
4. (medicine) Sugar in the blood or urine.^[2]
5. (Quebec) maple sugar;^[3] les sucres, the season of the maple harvest.^[3]
6. Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un: to speak ill of someone behind their back.^[3][2]

Word family

• sucrer
• sucrerie
• sucrier

Related words

• saccharose
• Latin saccharum
• English sucrose

Usage notes

A separate word sucre, recorded from 1903, was the monetary unit of Ecuador, named after Antonio José de Sucre (1793–1830), president of Bolivia.^[5][10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)