The History and Etymology of Sugar

The History of Sugar: A Sweet Diffusion

Sugar was first cultivated in India in the 3rd century B.C.E. and eventually spread to Europe by way of Persia circa 600 C.E. In the western world, Italy was the first to capitalize on sugar production, to the extent that between 700 and 1600 C.E., Venice was known as the sugar capital. Because of its rarity, however, sugar was only available to the rich and royal. When Christopher Columbus brought sugar to the Americas in 1493, production exploded in what came to be known as the “sugar colonies” or “sugar islands”. In the 1800s sugar brought forth the “triangle trade” in which sugar, tobacco, slaves and other goods were exchanged between Africa, the West Indies and Europe. The growing popularity of bitter drinks such as tea, coffee and chocolate created this demand for sugar. When the cultivation of sugar began in South America— where the climate was ideal— the crop boom drove down prices. Sugar was now available to everyone. In contrast to its old reputation, sugar can be found in abundance in cheap unhealthy foods such as soda and candy bars today.

The Etymology of Sugar: From Grit to the Gritty

The word for “sugar” is phonologically similar in almost all Indo-European languages and can be traced back to the Sanskrit “shakara,” which meant “ground or candied sugar” and originally “pebble and grit.” The English word “sugar” is phonologically most similar to the modern French “sucre” which evolved over time from the Old French “chucre”, “sukere”, “zuchre”, “çuquere” and “çucre” in turn. The ‘g’ that makes the English “sugar” unique is attributed to the middle Latin “zugurum”, the Anglo-French “segerstein” and the Norman French “segrestein”. On its way to its current employment of the letter “u,” it morphed between spellings such as “suigur,” “sewger,” “sewkere” and “suggur”. It can be seen in a form similar to the present-day in 1334 BCE in Abingdon Rolls, where it is written “The myreth is swete to the soule, no sugre is sweitre.”
Its first definition is “A sweet crystalline substance, white, when pure, obtained from a great variety of plant juices, but chiefly from those of the sugarcane and sugar-beet, and forming an important article of human food.”
The word “sugar” is often paired with words indicating its color (brown sugar); its stage of boiling, purification or crystallization (raw sugar); its use (table sugar), or its plant of origin (palm sugar, maple sugar). As a noun it can also refer to the plant from which the “sweet, crystalline” substance arises, especially sugar cane.
“Sugar” can also be used in the figurative sense, as in “Shirley’s all sugar” to imply the temperamental sweetness of a person. The colloquialism, “He is neither sugar nor salt” implies an impermeability to the elements, especially to rainy weather. This saying may transfer to a person’s emotional wear-all as well. Finally, “sugar” appears in slang in three grittier senses. Sugar can be money, a narcotic drug (especially heroine) or when used in “sugar daddy,” it connotes an older wealthier man who offers moneys or gifts for companionship or sexual favors.
The word “sugar” is part of a chemist’s lexicon. Its archaic usage probably harked back to its original Sanskrit meaning “pebble, grit,” that is, the textural properties of sugar. It could be used to refer to any elements or compounds that resembled sugar in texture or taste (as in sugar lead… I certainly hope they did not taste the lead, though maybe that is why the sense of this word is also dead and buried…) Today, “sugar” is a common reference to any member of the saccherose or glucose families.
“Sugar” can be used in combination with other words to mean those things are pertaining to, made from or derived of sugar. Some interesting word pairings—that perhaps stand on their own in other parts of the OED— are “sugar mouse” (simply, a sugar lump in the shape of a mouse), “sugar nippers” (to nip pieces from loaves of sugar), a “sugar trough” (where maple syrup collects) and “sugar weather” (a Canadian saying for spring weather). Animals that eat sweet things have the word sugar in their names (such as the Australian honey-eating “sugar squirrel”), as do certain fruits and vegetables that are exceptionally sweet.
Finally, “sugar” can be used as a transitive verb. One can sugar something by mixing, covering, sprinkling or sweetening it with sugar. The verb “to sugar” can be used in a figurative context as well, as a form of flattery, as in “to sugar someone up.” When used in trade, to sugar something means to doctor it, as one would do by cutting cornstarch into cocaine and then selling it as 100% pure. And any oarsman would know that if his fellow was shirking while pretending to row hard, he could excuse him of “sugaring.”