Meaning and Origin
What does the name Sugar mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
- A sweet white (or brownish yellow) crystalline substance, of a sandy or granular consistency, obtained by crystallizing the evaporated juice of certain plants, as the sugar cane, sorghum, beet root, sugar maple, etc. It is used for seasoning and preserving many kinds of food and drink. Ordinary sugar is essentially sucrose. See the Note below.
- By extension, anything resembling sugar in taste or appearance; as, sugar of lead (lead acetate), a poisonous white crystalline substance having a sweet taste.
- Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.(Colloq)
Note: ☞ The term sugar includes several commercial grades, as the white or refined granulated loaf or lump, and the raw brown or muscovado. In a more general sense, it includes several distinct chemical compounds, as the glucoses, or grape sugarsincluding glucose proper, dextrose, and levulose), and the sucroses, or true sugars (as cane sugar). All sugars are carbohydrates. See Carbohydrate. The glucoses, or grape sugars, are ketone alcohols of the formula C6H12O6, and they turn the plane of polarization to the right or the left. They are produced from the amyloses and sucroses, as by the action of heat and acids of ferments, and are themselves decomposed by fermentation into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The only sugar (called acrose) as yet produced artificially belongs to this class. The sucroses, or cane sugars, are doubled glucose anhydrides of the formula C12H22O11. They are usually not fermentable as such (cf. Sucrose), and they act on polarized light.
Etymology: OE. sugre, F. sucrecf. It. zucchero, Sp. azúcar), fr. Ar. sukkar assukkar, fr. Skr. çarkarā sugar, gravel; cf. Per. shakar. Cf. Saccharine Sucrose
- To impregnate, season, cover, or sprinkle with sugar; to mix sugar with."When I sugarmy liquor." [G. Eliot.]
- To cover with soft words; to disguise by flattery; to compliment; to sweeten; as, to sugar reproof."With devotion's visage And pious action we do sugar o'er The devil himself." [Shak.]
- A white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative
- Informal terms for money
- An essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain
- Sweeten with sugar ("sugar your tea")
From Middle English sugre, sucre, from Middle French sucre, from Old French çucre (circa 13th century), from Medieval Latin zuccarum, from Old Italian zúccharo, from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), from Persian شکر (šakar), from Middle Persian [script needed] (škl), 𐫢𐫞𐫡 (šqr /šakar/), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar", originally "grit, gravel”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“gravel, boulder”), akin to Ancient Greek κρόκη (krókē, “pebble”). Doublet of jaggery.
- (uncountable) Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.
- (countable) A specific variety of sugar.
- (countable, chemistry) Any of various small carbohydrates that are used by organisms to store energy.
- (countable) A small serving of this substance (typically about one teaspoon), used to sweeten a drink.
- He usually has his coffee white with one .
- (countable) A term of endearment.
- I'll be with you in a moment, .
- (countable, slang) A kiss.
- (chiefly southern US, slang, uncountable) Effeminacy in a male, often implying homosexuality.
- I think John has a little bit of in him.
- (uncountable, informal) Diabetes.
- (dated) Anything resembling sugar in taste or appearance, especially in chemistry.
- of lead (lead acetate) is a poisonous white crystalline substance with a sweet taste.
- Compliment or flattery used to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious; honeyed or soothing words.
- (US, slang) Heroin.
sugar was also found in the following language(s): Basque, Galician, Ido, Latin, Portuguese, Romanian, and Venetian