Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.
"The old merchant told us that a single candy of rice was enough to feed the entire village for weeks."
A unit of mass used in southern India, equal to twenty maunds, roughly equal to 500 pounds avoirdupois but varying locally.
In plain English: Candy is sweet food made from sugar that people eat as a treat.
"She bought a bag of candy to share with her friends."
Usage: In everyday usage, candy refers to sweet treats made primarily from sugar and often containing fruit or chocolate. Do not use this term for the large unit of mass used in southern India, which is unrelated to food.
To cook in, or coat with, sugar syrup.
"The chef carefully poured the boiling sugar syrup over the hot nuts to candy them for a crunchy texture."
In plain English: To candy something means to preserve it by soaking it in sugar so it becomes hard and sweet.
"The pastry chef planned to candy the citrus peel for a festive garnish."
Usage: Do not use the word candy as a verb in everyday conversation; it specifically means to cook food in sugar syrup and should be avoided unless you are giving precise cooking instructions. Instead, simply say that something is sweetened or coated with sugar.
A pet form of the female given name Candace or Candice.
"The new neighbor, Mr. Candy, waved from his porch as we moved into our old house on Elm Street."
The Mediterranean island of Crete.
The Kingdom of Kandy on the island now known as Sri Lanka; (by extension) the British colony of Ceylon on that island.
A surname.
The word "candy" comes from the Arabic term for rock candy, which itself traces back to a Persian and Sanskrit root meaning "piece" or "fragment." It entered English via Middle English as sugre candy, referring specifically to crystallized sugar before broadening to mean sweet treats in general.