Pastillas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of small cake or pill often used for medicinal purposes or as a sweet treat in various cultures
2. A confectionery or medicinal preparation formed into a compact, typically pill-like shape, popular in different cuisines
3. Small, usually round or tablet-like items that can be sweet or therapeutic, reflecting diverse culinary traditions

Etymology: "Pastillas" is simply the plural of "pastilla," the Spanish word for a small lozenge or tablet. The Spanish term descends from the Latin "pasta" (a paste, dough, or medicinal mass), so a pastilla began as a little piece of shaped paste before it became a sweet or a dose of medicine. The same root gave English several words that look unrelated at first glance. "Pastille," "pastel," "pastiglia," and "pastila" all come from the same source and arrived in English and other European languages through different routes, which makes them doublets: separate borrowings of one ancestor. "Pastel" kept the sense of a crayon or pale colour, while "pastille" stayed closer to the medicinal lozenge. Over the centuries, the idea of a paste formed into a small, compact shape carried the word into confectionery across many cuisines, especially in Spanish and Filipino kitchens, where "pastillas" now usually names a sweet made from milk and sugar.