Pez

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A trademarked brand of small fruit-flavored candy tablets, usually sold in a plastic dispenser shaped like a character's head
2. The name of a candy brand whose compressed tablets are dispensed one at a time from a spring-loaded plastic container
3. A proprietary sweet made in small compressed tablets and sold in a novelty dispenser that releases one piece when its head is tilted

Etymology: The name of this candy was built from the first letters, middle letters and last letters of a German word. The source word was "Pfefferminz," meaning a peppermint-flavored candy, and that was the very first flavor sold under the brand. Taking the opening P, the middle EZ and the closing Z gives "Pez," a brief, sharp name that a company could register and remember easily. The product itself was named after its original flavor rather than the company's own identity, so the name records a peppermint sweet from the German-speaking world. The compressed tablets and the dispenser that releases one piece when its head is tilted are what turned a simple mint into a recognizable object, and the name has outlived the peppermint origin, now covering many flavors.