Bittersweets

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term describing situations or experiences that evoke both happiness and sadness
2. An expression of mixed emotions, often reflecting joy intertwined with a sense of longing or loss
3. Signifying a complex feeling where sweetness is tainted by sorrow or disappointment

Etymology: "Bittersweets" is the plural of "bittersweet", and the noun's plural form is the one that matters here, since the word's history is in the compound it contains. "Bittersweet" comes from Middle English "bitterswete" and "biterswete", formed by simply joining "bitter" and "sweet". The pairing is old and transparent: it describes things that taste or feel both harsh and pleasant at once, and the same two-part compound appears across the Germanic languages, including Dutch "bitterzoet", German "bittersüß" and Swedish "bittersöt", all built from the same pair of ideas. The notable thing is how little the compound has changed. Its two halves are among the oldest and most basic words in English, both inherited from Old English, so the word's meaning is essentially written into its parts. The figurative sense of mixed emotion, joy shot through with sorrow, grew naturally out of the literal taste sense, which is why the plural form now reads so easily as a description of feelings rather than flavours.