Where does “sweetmeat” come from?
Sweetmeat derives from Middle English swete mete, combining Old English swete (sweet) with mete (food), from Latin meta and ultimately Proto-Indo-European meh₂d- (wet, soft).
sweetmeat (English): A sweet delicacy; a confection
Definitions
- A sweet delicacy; a confection
Ancestry of “sweetmeat”, step by step
sweetmeat traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English meat
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | meat | The flesh of an animal used as food; A type of... |
| 2 | Middle English | mete | Food, nourishment or comestibles; that which is... |
| 3 | Middle English | bake mete | Any kind of cooked food which has a pastry... |
| 4 | Middle English | baken | To bake; to cook in an oven; usually used of... |
| 5 | Old English | bacan | to bake |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | bakan | to bake |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | bakaną | to bake |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰeh₃g- | to bake, to roast, to fry |
via English sweet
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sweet | Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating... |
| 2 | Middle English | swete | sweet, pleasant-tasting; sweet in smell;... |
| 3 | Old English | swēte | sweet |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | swōtī | sweet |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | swōtuz | sweet |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | swéh₂dus | sweet |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sweh₂d- | sweet |