alphenic
English
Etymology
From French alphénic, alfénic, from Spanish alfeñique, from Arabic فَانِيد (fānīd), from Persian پانید (pânid, “sugar candy”).
Noun
alphenic (countable and uncountable, plural alphenics)
- (rare) White barley sugar
- 1881, I.M.L.W., The bag of gold:
- There was Patella — wise as any owl — promising to cure me with his "Alphenic" ; but him I quickly showed the door; for here (laying his hand on the book), in here, I found this learned word is Arabic for sugar-candy!
- 1980, Tien-kung-kai-wu, page 189:
- The white sugar, or alphenic, is its best quality.
- 2016, John McQuaid, Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat, page 114:
- A popular Arab treatment for the common cold was al fanad or al panad, small sugar twists made from congealed syrup, which became known in English as alphenics or penides.
References
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “alphenic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.