syrup English · revision 39744

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1392–3, Earl Derby's Expeditions|origins=ar شَرَاب}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈsɪ.ɹəp/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈsɪɹ.əp/, /ˈsɝ.əp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|sirop]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) also taken from [[m|la-med|siropus]] or [[m|la-med|sirupus]],^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) and ultimately [[der|ar|شَرَاب|tr=šarāb|t=a drink, beverage, wine, syrup]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|ar|شَرِبَ|tr=šariba|t=to drink]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Ayto 2005) Barnhart thinks it may also have come through [[m|it|siroppo]].^(Barnhart 1995) The Arabic word is also the source of [[sherbet]] and of [[shrub]], a fruit cordial.^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Weekley 1921) The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, meant syrup or a liquid medicine.^(AND) Etymonline notes the Spanish forms [[m|es|jarabe]] and [[m|es|jarope]], also from Arabic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thick sweet liquid used in cookery: 1392–3, in the household accounts of the Earl of Derby;^(OED 2026) as a liquid medicine or a sweet vehicle for medicines, 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's ''De Proprietatibus Rerum''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates the form ''sirup'' to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Weekley observed that the word first meant a medicinal potion and later developed like [[treacle]], which also passed from medicine to sweetness.^(Weekley 1921) Ayto explains that, since Arab drinks were heavily sweetened, the word reached the West with the specific sense of a sweet liquid.^(Ayto 2005) From 1599 it was used for molasses and for liquids at different stages of sugar-making,^(OED 2026) and, from 1838, for any liquid as thick as syrup.^(OED 2026) The figurative sense, something cloyingly sweet or sentimental, is recorded from about 1533.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) In slang it has meant alcoholic drink (1903) and, in the United States, money (1919).^(GDoS) British rhyming slang used ''syrup of figs'' for a wig, shortened to ''syrup''.^(ODE 2010)^(Collins 2023) The verb, to cover or fill with syrup, dates from 1627.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1392–3 – a sweet liquid used in cookery.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1398 – a medicinal syrup.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1533 – figurative use.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1599 – molasses; liquids in sugar-making.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1627 – verb, to cover or fill with syrup.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1707 – ''syrupy''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1838 – any liquid of syrupy consistency.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1903 – (slang) alcoholic drink.^(GDoS)

+ * 1919 – (US slang) money.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thick, sweet liquid made by dissolving [[sugar]] in water, often flavoured with fruit juice: ''peaches tinned in light syrup''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Any thick sweet liquid made for table or cooking use, as from [[molasses]] or the [[sap]] of a tree: ''maple syrup''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A liquid [[medicine]] in a sugar solution: ''cough syrup''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (informal) Excessive [[sentimentality]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (British slang) A [[wig]].^(Collins 2023)^(ODE 2010)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover, fill or sweeten with syrup, as fruit in canning.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To bring to the consistency of syrup.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[syrupy]]

+ * [[golden syrup]]

+ * [[maple syrup]]

+ * [[simple syrup]]

+ * [[corn syrup]]

+ * [[cough syrup]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sherbet]]

+ * [[shrub]]

+ * [[sorbet]]

+ * [[treacle]]

+ * [[molasses]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}