sugar (English)

Where does "sugar" come from?

The English word 'sugar' has a long journey across multiple languages and centuries, ultimately tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*ḱorkeh₂' meaning 'gravel'[1]. It passed through Proto-Indo-Iranian and Proto-Indo-Aryan into Sanskrit as 'śárkarā', originally denoting 'gravel' or 'grit'[1][8]. From there, the term moved into Gandhari and Middle Persian 'šakar', and was subsequently borrowed into Arabic as 'sukkar'[1]. The word traveled into Europe via Old Italian 'zucchero' and Old French 'çucre' before entering Middle English as 'sugre', eventually giving rise to modern English 'sugar'[1].

Full etymology tree

• sugar (English), 'Sucrose in the form of small crystals, obtained from sugar cane or sugar beet and used to sweeten food and drink.'
  • inherited sugre (Middle English), 'sugar (crystallised sucrose used as a sweetener)'
    • borrowed çucre (Old French), 'sugar (sweet crystalized powder)'
      • borrowed zucchero (Italian), 'sugar (all senses)'
        • borrowed سكر (sukkar) (Arabic), 'sugar'
          • borrowed škl (šakar) (Middle Persian), 'sugar'
            • borrowed 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara) (Gandhari), 'sugar'
              • inherited शर्करा (śárkarā) (Sanskrit), 'gravel, grit, pebbles, shingle, gravelly mould or soil (mostly plural)'
                • derived शर्कर (śárkara) (Sanskrit), 'pebble, small stone'
                  • inherited *śárkaraH (Proto-Indo-Aryan)
                    • inherited *ćárkaraH (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
                      • inherited *ḱorkeh₂ (Proto-Indo-European), 'pebble, gravel, small stone'

Ancestors

• sugren (Middle English)

Cognates and doublets

• κρόκη (Ancient Greek)
• crocodile (English)
• jaggery (English)
• krokodil (English)
• sucro- (English)

Descendants and derived words

• sogal (Abenaki)
• juga (Australian Kriol)
• suga (Australian Kriol)
• shuga (Belizean Creole)
• suga (Bislama)
• acid of sugar (English)
• acorn sugar (English)
• amino sugar (English)
• aminosugar (English)
• anhydro sugar (English)
• anhydrosugar (English)
• antisugar (English)

Sources

1. sugar (English) - Wiktionary
2. sugren (Middle English) - Wiktionary
3. sugre (Middle English) - Wiktionary
4. çucre (Old French) - Wiktionary
5. سكر (sukkar) (Arabic) - Wiktionary
6. škl (šakar) (Middle Persian) - Wiktionary
7. 𐨭𐨐𐨪 (śakara) (Gandhari) - Wiktionary
8. शर्करा (śárkarā) (Sanskrit) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris