Candyfloss

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A light and fluffy confection made from spun sugar that resembles soft, cotton-like strands in appearance
2. A confection made by spinning sugar into thin, airy threads that form a soft, sweet mass
3. A sugary snack created by melting and spinning sugar into delicate, fluffy strands

Etymology: Candyfloss is a compound of "candy" and "floss", and the "floss" half is the more interesting part. It comes from the Middle English "flos", meaning the soft, downy fibres of raw silk, the same sense that survives in the silk "floss" used for embroidery. That image of fine, fluffy threads is exactly what the confection is made of, so the name describes the product almost literally. The compound itself is a twentieth-century creation. Its two halves were each old and familiar, but joining them gave a name for a treat that was spun from sugar rather than simply sold as a sweet. Because the spinning machine was a novelty in its day, the name had to explain what the thing looked like to anyone who had never seen it. Among English speakers the treat is often called "cotton candy" in North America, a name that uses cotton for the same fluffy-thread image. The British term kept the older silk-thread sense instead.

Synonyms: cotton candy, sugar spun, fairy floss