sweet | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

155 entries found.

sweetmeat (n.)

"a sweet thing to eat," Old English swete mete; see sweet (adj.) + meat (n.).

sweetbread (n.)

"pancreas of an animal used as food" 1560s, from sweet (adj.); the -bread element may be from Old English bræd "flesh."

semisweet (adj.)

also semi-sweet, "partially sweetened; somewhat sweet," 1943, from semi- + sweet (adj.).

twee (adj.)

"tiny, dainty, miniature," 1905, from childish pronunciation of sweet (adj.). Compare tummy from stomach.

sweetheart (n.)

late 13c. as a form of address, 1570s as a synonym for "loved one;" from sweet (adj.) + heart (n.). As an adjective, with reference to labor contracts, it is attested from 1959.

sweeten (v.)

1550s (intransitive), from sweet (adj.) + verbal ending -en (1). Transitive sense ("become sweet") is from 1620s. The Middle English form of the verb was simply sweet, from Old English swetan. Related: Sweetened; sweetening.

suave (adj.)

early 15c., "gracious, kindly, pleasant, delightful," from Latin suavis "agreeable, sweet, pleasant (to the senses), delightful," from PIE root *swād- "sweet, pleasant" (see sweet (adj.)). In reference to persons, sense of "smoothly agreeable" first recorded 1815 (implied in suavity). Related: Suavely.

toot sweet (adv.)

"right away, promptly," 1917, American English, representing U.S. soldiers' mangled adaptation of French tout de suite.

Sweet Adeline

female barbershop singing group member, 1947, from the name of a popular close harmony song by Richard Armstrong & Harry Gerard, "You're the Flower of my Heart, Sweet Adeline" (1903).

bittersweet (adj.)

"uniting bitterness and sweetness," 1610s, from bitter (adj.) + sweet (adj.). Perhaps older, as the same word is used as a noun in Middle English (late 14c.) for drinks or experiences that are both bitter and sweet and especially in reference to a type of apple; later of woody nightshade (1560s). Greek had a similarly formed compound, glykypikros, literally "sweet-bitter."

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