Do you speak a little Arabic when you say 'sugar'?

'Sugar' is a word borrowed from Arabic 'sukkar'. The word entered the English language some time around the 14th century.

sugar [noun] [14th century]

• a sweet crystallizable material that consists wholly or essentially of sucrose, is colorless or white when pure tending...
• any of various water-soluble compounds that vary widely in sweetness, include the monosaccharides and oligosaccharides,...
• a unit (as a spoonful, cube, or lump) of sugar
• a sugar bowl

See 'sugar' on the Loan Words Map

See more loan words from Arabic.

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

See more loan words from 1300s.