sugar

A1 Topic:Cooking & Baking

US /ˈʃʊɡ.ɚ/ UK /ˈʃʊɡ.ə/ See IPA manual

Freq #1788

Meanings

1

noun
A sweet white or brown substance used to flavour food and drink.

He takes his coffee with two spoons of sugar.
2

noun
A small serving of sugar, such as a teaspoonful for a drink.

He has his coffee white with one sugar.
3

noun
Any of various carbohydrates that give energy to living things.

Fruit contains natural sugars.
4

verb
To add sugar to something to make it sweet.

She sugared her tea before drinking it.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · any of various... carbohydratesaccharide

Word family

Forms sugaredsugaringsugars

Derived forms aminosugaranhydrosugarantisugaraphis-sugararsenosugarazasugarazidosugarbarley-sugarbeet-sugarbesugarbromosugarcane-sugar

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

superfine sugar
sugar with very small fine crystals

Adjective + noun
malt sugar
maltose, a sugar produced when starch breaks down

Noun + noun
castor sugar
white sugar ground into small crystals that dissolve readily

Noun + noun
granular sugar
sugar present as small, distinct grains rather than a fine powder

Adjective + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

butter wouldn't melt in his mouth
Matching variant: Sugar wouldn't melt in my mouth

he looks perfectly innocent or gentle despite behaving quite differently

Simplified etymology

Sugar entered Middle English from Arabic sukkar. The compound sugar candy later combined it with Arabic qandī, meaning “crystallized.”

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iran…

sugren Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cooking & Baking Materials & Substances

External links

# sugar

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈʃʊɡ.ɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈʃʊɡ.ə/
**Frequency rank:** 1788

## Meanings
1. A sweet white or brown substance used to flavour food and drink.
2. A small serving of sugar, such as a teaspoonful for a drink.
3. Any of various carbohydrates that give energy to living things.
4. To add sugar to something to make it sweet.

## Examples
- He takes his coffee with two spoons of sugar.
- He has his coffee white with one sugar.
- Fruit contains natural sugars.
- She sugared her tea before drinking it.

## Derived Forms
- aminosugar
- anhydrosugar
- antisugar
- aphis-sugar
- arsenosugar
- azasugar
- azidosugar
- barley-sugar
- beet-sugar
- besugar
- bromosugar
- cane-sugar

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sugren

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćárkaraH Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā) Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara)bor. Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar)bor. Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar)bor. Old Italian zuccherobor. Old French çucrebor. Middle English sugre English sugar Inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iran…

## AI Etymology
Sugar is inherited from Middle English sugre, borrowed from Old French çucre, borrowed from Old Italian zucchero, borrowed from Arabic سُكَّر (sukkar), borrowed from Middle Persian 𐭱𐭪𐭥 (šakar), borrowed from Gandhari 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara), from Sanskrit शर्क॑रा (śárkarā), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *śárkaraH, from Proto-Indo-Iran. In present-day use, it can mean a sweet white or brown substance used to flavour food and drink, or a small serving of sugar, such as a teaspoonful for a drink.

## Topics
- Cooking & Baking
- Materials & Substances

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