sugar

I. noun Etymology: Middle English sugre, sucre, from Anglo-French sucre, from Medieval Latin zuccarum, from Old Italian zucchero, from Arabic sukkar, from Persian shakar, ultimately from Sanskrit śarkarā; akin to Sanskrit śarkara pebble — more at crocodile Date: 14th century 1. a. a sweet crystallizable material that consists wholly or essentially of sucrose, is colorless or white when pure tending to brown when less refined, is obtained commercially from sugarcane or sugar beet and less extensively from sorghum, maples, and palms, and is important as a source of dietary carbohydrate and as a sweetener and preservative of other foods b. any of various water-soluble compounds that vary widely in sweetness, include the monosaccharides and oligosaccharides, and typically are optically active 2. a unit (as a spoonful, cube, or lump) of sugar 3. a sugar bowl • sugarless adjective II. verb (sugared; sugaring) Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to make palatable or attractive ; sweeten <

a story sugared with romance

> 2. to sprinkle or mix with sugar intransitive verb 1. to form or be converted into sugar 2. to become granular ; granulate 3. to make maple syrup or maple sugar