Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sugar” come from?

Sugar comes from Middle English sucre, from Middle French sucre, from Old French çucre, from Latin zuccarum, from Arabic سُكَّر, ultimately from Sanskrit शर्करा meaning gravel or grit.

sugar (English): Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained...

Definitions

  1. Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained...

Ancestry of “sugar”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishsucreAlternative form of sugre
2Middle Frenchsucre—
3Old Frenchçucresugar
4Arabicسكرsugar; to sugar, to sprinkle sugar over; to...
5Persianشکرsugar
6Middle Persianšklsugar
7Sanskritशर्कराgravel, grit, pebbles, shingle, gravelly mould or...
8Proto-Indo-AryanśárkaraH—
9Proto-Indo-IranianćárkaraH—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanḱorkeh₂gravel, boulder; boulder; gravel

Words derived from “sugar”

  • sugary
  • sugarless
  • sugarcoated
  • sugarhouse
  • sugarfree
  • sugarbush
  • nonsugar
  • sugarmaking
  • sugariness
  • sugarlike
  • sugarberry
  • sugarbird
  • arsenosugar
  • sugarholic
  • desugar
  • anhydrosugar
  • sugarman
  • antisugar
  • sugarcraft
  • sugarmaker
  • sugarpie
  • nonsugary
  • phosphosugar
  • deoxysugar
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱorkeh₂ →