sugar: [13] The ultimate source of sugar is Sanskrit, where the substance was named with a term that originally meant ‘gravel, grit’ – sharkarā. This was borrowed into Arabic as sukkar, which made its way into English via medieval Latin succarum, Italian zucchero, and Old French sukere. The Sanskrit word was also acquired by Greek as sákkharon, which passed into English through medieval Latin saccharum as saccharin. => saccharin
sugar (n.)
late 13c., sugre, from Old French sucre "sugar" (12c.), from Medieval Latin succarum, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, from Sanskrit sharkara "ground or candied sugar," originally "grit, gravel" (cognate with Greek kroke "pebble"). The Arabic word also was borrowed in Italian (zucchero), Spanish (azucar, with the Arabic article), and German (Old High German zucura, German Zucker), and its forms are represented in most European languages (such as Serbian cukar, Polish cukier, Russian sakhar).
Its Old World home was India (Alexander the Great's companions marveled at the "honey without bees") and it remained exotic in Europe until the Arabs began to cultivate it in Sicily and Spain; not until after the Crusades did it begin to rival honey as the West's sweetener. The Spaniards in the West Indies began raising sugar cane in 1506; first grown in Cuba 1523; first cultivated in Brazil 1532. The reason for the -g- in the English word is obscure (OED compares flagon, from French flacon). The pronunciation shift from s- to sh- is probably from the initial long vowel sound syu- (as in sure).
As a type of chemical compound from 1826. Slang "euphemistic substitute for an imprecation" [OED] is attested from 1891. As a term of endearment, first recorded 1930. Sugar-cane is from 1560s. Sugar-maple is from 1731. Sugar loaf was originally a moulded conical mass of refined sugar (early 15c.); now obsolete, but sense extended 17c. to hills, hats, etc. of that shape.
sugar (v.)
early 15c., "to sweeten with sugar," also figuratively, "to make more pleasing, mitigate the harshness of," from sugar (n.).
Related: Sugared; sugaring.
双语例句
1. Blend the butter with the sugar and beat until light and creamy.
把糖掺入黄油然后搅拌至滑软细腻。
来自柯林斯例句
2. I need my fix of sugar, sweets, and chocolate.
我离不开糖、甜品和巧克力。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Sugar gives quick relief to hunger but provides no lasting nourishment.
糖能快速缓解饥饿感，但不能提供持久的营养。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He wants three teaspoons of sugar in his coffee.
他要在咖啡里放3茶匙的糖。
来自柯林斯例句
5. To keep their bees from wandering, beekeepers feed them sugar solutions.