Sirup

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A thick, sweet liquid often used as a sugar substitute or flavor enhancer in foods and drinks
2. A viscous sugary fluid commonly added to beverages or recipes to provide sweetness and flavor
3. A concentrated sweet liquid that serves as a sweetener or flavoring agent in culinary uses

Etymology: The Arabic word "šarāb" meant "a drink" in a broad sense, and it is the ultimate source of this sweet, thick liquid. The verb it comes from, "šariba", means "to drink", so the root idea is simply something to be drunk. Medieval Latin turned the Arabic term into "siruppus" and "syrupus", and Old French shaped it into "sirop", which carried the word into the Middle English of the 14th century as "sirup". The Arabic word also travelled in other directions. The same root gave English "sherbet" and "sorbet", both drinks or frozen treats that descend from the old sense of a sweetened beverage. Ironically, English "syrup" and its relatives in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all point back to a word that originally meant any drink at all, not specifically a thick, sugary one.

Synonyms: syrup, nectar, molasses, treacle, glucose