candire

candire¹ to candy

Pronunciation

• /kanˈdi.re/^[1]

Forms

candire (first-person singular present candìsco, first-person singular past historic candìi, past participle candìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

The word for candying fruit is formed from Italian candi + -ire.^[2][1][3][4] DELI, Sabatini–Coletti and Zingarelli derive it directly from Arabic.^[5][6][7] The adjective candi “refined, crystallised (of sugar)” is from Arabic قَنْدِيّ (qandī, “candied”), from قَنْد (qand, “cane sugar boiled into a hard mass”).^[8][2][1] Wiktionary traces the Arabic noun to Persian کند (kand).^[1]

DEI records Medieval Latin candus in the 14th century and French candi from the same period, and notes that the word became international.^[9] French candir and Catalan candir stand beside the Italian verb, and German kandieren and Konditor (“confectioner”) come from them.^[10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record of the verb is in Francesco Redi (before 1698), for preparing fruit by dipping and cooking it in a series of ever thicker syrups until it is coated with sugar.^[5] The participle candito is much older, recorded in 1310 as candi and before 1483 as candito.^[8][5]

Semantic evolution

Redi himself derived zucchero candi from zucchero di Candia, sugar of Candia, and candire from that.^[12] The verb also came to mean to coat with sugar in general, and to crystallise sugar from syrups.^[2][7]

Nineteenth-century speech used it in a figure: of something or someone one wants nothing to do with, se lo può candire, the owner can keep it, as if preserved for himself.^[12][13] English has used the verb candy since 1533, a formal calque of French and Italian, and German kandieren since the 16th century.^[14]

Timeline

• 1310 – The adjective candito “candied” is first recorded, in the form candi.^[8][5]
• Late 14th century – The adjective candi appears, spelt chandi.^[2]
• Before 1483 – Candito is recorded.^[8]
• 1533 – The English verb candy is first recorded.^[14]
• 1600 – French candir is first recorded.^[14]
• Before 1698 – Redi uses candire.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To candy fruit: to boil it in sugar syrup until it is soaked through: In dicembre la nonna candiva le bucce di cedro.^{[2][15][6][7][3]}
2. By extension, to coat with sugar, the same as confettare.^[2][7]
3. To crystallize sugar by evaporating syrups.^[7]
4. (figurative) To keep something nobody wants, in the phrase se lo può candire.^[12][13]

Word family

• candito
• canditura
• canditore

candire² to whiten

Etymology tree of candire²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin candeō

Italian candire

From the same root · candire²

English candid ← candeō

Latin candēla ← candeō

Latin candēns ← candeō

Latin candēscō ← candeō

Latin candidus ← candeō

Latin candor ← candeō

Romanian încinge ← candeō

Pronunciation

• /kanˈdi.re/^[1]

Forms

candire (first-person singular present candìsco, first-person singular past historic candìi, past participle candìto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

The word for whitening is inherited from Latin candēre (“to shine, gleam white”), moved into the conjugation in ⟨-ire⟩.^[2][1][3] The LEI notes that the Latin glosses already have the verb with the new ending, and that it lives on in Italo-Romance meaning “to make white”, as in Old Occitan quandí (“white”) (1050).^[16] DEI finds it in 13th-century Medieval Latin at Piacenza, for bleaching cloth.^[10] Zingarelli and Battaglia call it a learned word.^[7][17]

The Latin verb is from Proto-Italic *kandēō.^[18][1] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *knd- with an unexpected ⟨a⟩, which he explains through forms such as *knd-ro- (“shining”).^[18] Wiktionary gives the root as *(s)kend- (“to shine, glow”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is in Buccio di Ranallo of L'Aquila (1330), who has the participle in candite penne, feathers made white.^[16]

Semantic evolution

Galileo wrote of the action of the surrounding ether circa il candire la Luna, the whitening of the Moon, and also used the derivative incandire.^[16][17] Battaglia also gives the sense of heating iron until it glows white.^[17][10] In the 20th century Montale revived the verb: Il lampo che candisce / alberi e muri (“the lightning that whitens trees and walls”).^[17][7]

Timeline

• 1050 – Old Occitan quandí “white” in the Boecis.^[16]
• 1330 – Buccio di Ranallo uses the participle candite.^[16]
• 1640 – Galileo writes of il candire la Luna.^[16]
• 1956 – Montale uses candisce of lightning.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary, rare) To whiten, to make white and shining.^{[2][15][6][7][3][13]}
2. (archaic) To heat iron until it glows white-hot.^[17][10]

Word family

• incandire