Online Etymology Dictionary

sugar: c.1289, from O.Fr. sucre "sugar" (12c.), from M.L. succarum, from Arabic sukkar, from Pers. shakar, from Skt. sharkara "ground or candied sugar," originally "grit, gravel" (cognate with Gk. kroke "pebble"). The Arabic word also was borrowed in It. (zucchero), Sp. (azucar), and O.H.G. (zucura, Ger. Zucker), and its forms are represented in most European languages (cf. Serb. cukar, Pol. cukier, Rus. sakhar). Its Old World home was India (Alexander the Great's companions marveled at the "honey without bees") and it remained exotic in Europe until the Arabs began to cultivate it in Sicily and Spain; not until after the Crusades did it begin to rival honey as the West's sweetener. The Spaniards in the West Indies began raising sugar cane in 1506; first grown in Cuba 1523; first cultivated in Brazil 1532. The -g- in the Eng. form cannot be accounted for. The pronunciation shift from s- to sh- is probably from the initial long vowel sound syu- (as in sure). Slang "euphemistic substitute for an imprecation" [OED] is attested from 1891. As a term of endearment, first recorded 1930. Sugar maple is from 1753; sugar-plum is from 1608; sugar-daddy "elderly man who lavishes gifts on a young woman" first recorded 1926. Sugar coat (v.) "make more palatable" is from 1870. Sugar plum "small round candy" is from 1668. Sugar loaf was originally a moulded conical mass of refined sugar (1422); they're now obsolete, but sense extended 17c. to hills, hats, etc. of that shape.
saccharine: 1674, "of or like sugar," from M.L. saccharum "sugar," from L. saccharon, from Gk. sakkharon, from Pali sakkhara, from Skt. sarkara "gravel, grit" (see sugar). Metaphoric sense of "overly sweet" first recorded 1841.
seersucker: 1722, from Hindi sirsakar, E. Indian corruption of Pers. shir o shakkar "striped cloth," lit. "milk and sugar," an allusion to the alternately smooth and puckered surfaces of the stripes. From Pers. shir (cf. Skt. ksiram "milk") + shakar (cf. Pali sakkhara, Skt. sarkara "gravel, grit, sugar;" see sugar).
candy: late 13c., from O.Fr. sucre candi "sugar candy," from Arabic qandi, from Pers. qand "cane sugar," probably from Skt. khanda "piece (of sugar)," perhaps from Dravidian (cf. Tamil kantu "candy," kattu "to harden, condense"). Eye-candy "attractive woman on a TV show, etc." is recorded by 1978, based on a metaphor also found in nose candy "cocaine" (1930). Candyass is from 1950s; candy-striper is 1960s, so called from design of her uniform.
sucrose: 1857, formed from Fr. sucre "sugar" (see sugar) + chemical suffix -ose.
blancmange: late 14c., from O.Fr. blancmanger, lit. "white eating," originally a dish of fowl minced with cream, rice, almonds, sugar, eggs, etc.
flip (n.): sailors' hot drink usually containing beer, brandy and sugar, 1695, from flip (v.), so called from notion of it being "whipped up" or beaten.
saccharin: "white crystalline compound used as a sugar substitute," 1885, from Ger., coined by chemist Fahlberg, 1879, from L. saccharon (see saccharine).
dander: 1831, Amer.Eng., "temper," originally (W.Indies) "fermentation of sugar," perhaps from Sp. redundar "to overflow," from L. redundare.
punch (n.2): "mixed drink," 1632, traditionally said to derive from Hindi panch "five," in allusion to the number of original ingredients (spirits, water, lemon juice, sugar, spice), from Skt. panchan-s.
Oreo: derogatory word for "black person felt to have a 'white' mentality," 1968, black Amer.Eng., from the snack cookies, which consist of dark chocolate wafers and white sugar cream filling (hence "brown outside, white inside"). The cookies (made by Nabisco) date from 1912; the source of the name has been forgotten.
tab (3): 1961, shortened form of tablet (esp. one of sugar containing LSD). As an abbreviation of tabloid (newspaper) it is 1990s slang. As a short form of tabulator key of a typewriter (later computer) it is recorded from 1916.
lactose: sugar from milk, 1858, from Fr., coined by Fr. chemist Marcelin-Pierre-Eugène Berthelot (1827-1907) from L. lac "milk" (see lactation) + suffix -ose.
fructose: "sugar found in fruit," 1864, coined in Eng. from L. fructus (see fruit) + chemical suffix -ose.
ribose: 1892, from Ger. Ribose (1891), shortened and arbitrarily rearranged from Eng. arabinose (c.1880), a sugar which is so called because it is formed from gum arabic.
deoxyribose: 1931, from deoxy-, from de- + oxy(gen) because the 2' hydroxyl (-OH) in the sugar is in this case reduced to a hydrogen (H) by loss of an oxygen + ribose.
caramel: 1725, from Fr. caramel "burnt sugar," ult. from M.L. cannamellis, traditionally from L. canna (see cane) + mellis "honey;" though some give the M.L. word an Arabic origin.
sherbet: c.1600, zerbet, "drink made from diluted fruit juice and sugar," from Turk. serbet, from Pers. sharbat, from Arabic sharba(t) "a drink," from shariba "he drank." Related to syrup.
taffy: candy made from sugar or molasses, 1817, related to toffee, but of uncertain origin; perhaps associated with tafia (1763), a rum-like alcoholic liquor distilled from molasses, presumably of W.Indian or Malay origin (perhaps a Creole shortening of ratafia). On this theory, the candy would have been made from the syrup skimmed off the liquor during distillation.
ribonucleic: 1931, from ribo-, from ribose (q.v.), the sugar component, + nucleic (see nucleic acid).
softball: baseball of larger than usual size, used in a scaled-down version of the game, 1914, from soft + ball. The game itself so called from 1926, earlier known as playground baseball. The word earlier was a term in sugar candy making (1894). Softball question, one that is easy to answer, is attested from 1976.
plum: O.E. plume, early Gmc. borrowing (cf. M.Du. prume, O.H.G. phruma, Ger. Pflaume) from V.L. *pruna, from L. prunum "plum," from Gk. prounon, later form of proumnon, from an Asiatic language. Change of pr- to pl- is unique to Gmc. Meaning "something desirable" is first recorded 1780, probably in ref. to the sugar-rich bits of a plum pudding, etc.
refine: 1582, of metals, 1588 of manners, from re-, intensive prefix + obs. fine (v.) "make fine," from fine (adj.) "delicate" (q.v.). Cf. Fr. raffiner, It. raffinare, Sp. refinar. General and fig. sense is recorded from 1596; of sugar, from 1613. Refinery in various senses is first recorded 1727. Refinement "act or process of refining" is from 1611; meaning "fineness of feeling" is from 1708.
toddy: 1620, alteration of taddy (1611), tarrie (1609) "beverage made from fermented palm sap," from Hindi tari "palm sap" (in which the -r- sounds close to an Eng. -d-), from tar "palm tree," from Skt. tala-s, probably from a Dravidian language (cf. Kannada tar, Telugu tadu). Meaning "beverage made of alcoholic liquor with hot water, sugar, and spices" first recorded 1786.
rum (n.): "liquor from sugar cane or molasses," 1654, originally rumbullion (1651), rombostion (1652), of uncertain origin, perhaps from rum (adj.).
"The chiefe fudling they make in the Island [i.e. Barbados] is Rumbullion alias Kill-Devill, and this is made of suggar cane distilled, a hott, hellish and terrible liquor." [1651]
The Eng. word was borrowed into Du., Ger., Sw., Dan., Sp., Port., It., Fr., and Rus. Used since 1800 in N.Amer. as a general (hostile) name for intoxicating liquors. Rum-runner "smuggler or transporter of illicit liquor" is from 1920.
preserve (v.): late 14c., from O.Fr. preserver, from M.L. preservare "keep, preserve," from L.L. præservare "guard beforehand," from L. præ- "before" + servare "to keep safe" (see observe). The noun sense of "fruit preserved with sugar" is from c.1600; that of "protected place for animals or plants" (a sense more properly belonging to conserve) is from 1807. Preservationist "advocate of protecting historic property" is recorded from 1927. Preservative (adj.) is attested from late 14c.; the noun sense of "chemical added to foods to keep them from rotting" is from 1875.
sure: c.1300, "safe, secure," later "mentally certain" (c.1450), from O.Fr. sur, seur "safe, secure," from L. securus "free from care, untroubled, heedless, safe" (see secure). Pronunciation development followed that of sugar. As an affirmative meaning "yes, certainly" it dates from 1803, from M.E. meanings "firmly established, having no doubt," and phrases like to be sure (1657), sure enough (1545), and for sure (1586). The use as a qualifier meaning "assuredly" goes back to 1425. Sure-footed is from 1633; sure-fire first attested 1901; sure thing dates from 1836. In 16c.-17c., Suresby was an appellation for a person to be depended upon.
lace: c.1230, from O.Fr. las "a net, noose, string" (Fr. lacs), from V.L. *lacium, from L. laqueum (nom. laqueus) "noose, snare" (It. laccio, Sp. lazo), a trapping and hunting term, probably from Italic base *laq- "to ensnare" (cf. L. lacere "to entice"). The "ornamental net pattern" meaning is first recorded 1555. Sense of "cord for tying" remains in shoelace. To lace coffee, etc., with a dash of liquor (1677) was originally used of sugar, and comes via the notion of "to ornament or trim." Laced mutton was "an old word for a whore" [Johnson]. Lace-curtain "middle class" (or lower-class with middle-class pretensions) usually is used in ref. to Irish-Americans.
lozenge: c.1327, from O.Fr. losenge "windowpane, small square cake," etc., used for many flat quadrilateral things. Cognates in Sp. losanje, Catalan llosange, It. lozanga. Probably from a pre-Roman Celtic language, perhaps Iberian *lausa or Gaul. *lausa "flat stone" (cf. Prov. lausa, Sp. losa, Catalan llosa, Port. lousa "slab, tombstone"), from a pre-Celtic language. Originally in Eng. a term in heraldry; meaning "small cake or tablet (originally diamond-shaped) of medicine and sugar, etc., meant to be held in the mouth and dissolved" is from 1530.