• syrup •
Pronunciation: sir-rêp • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. Any sweet, thick, sticky liquid either flavored or medicated (cough syrup). 2. Cloying sentimentality, mawkish schmalz.
Notes: All dictionaries now accept the spelling sirup. though I have never seen it. The adjective meaning "having syrup" or "like syrup" is syrupy, opening the door for syrupiness, usually referring to the metaphorical sense (Number 2 above).
In Play: Any thick sticky flavored (or medicated) liquid is called a syrup: "Sugar Huggins pours chocolate syrup on death-by-chocolate cake." We hear the second sense of this word most often as an adjective: "Hooker Crooke's obituary was filled with syrupy misrepresentations of his life."
Word History: Today's Good Word was Middle English sirup, borrowed from Old French sirop or Italian sciroppo, inherited by both languages from Medieval Latin siropus or sirupus. Latin adopted and adapted Arabic sharab "wine, syrup", noun from the verb shariba "to drink". The Arabic root is śrb "to drink, absorb", which also went into the making of šarba "sip, drink", borrowed by European languages for their equivalents of English sherbet and sorbet. It was also borrowed by English to name a drink, e.g. 'rum shrub'. In the US, a shrub drink was at one time a cordial made from raspberry juice with sugar and vinegar. (Now let's thank wordmaster Rob Towart, not only for the 122 Good Words he has suggested since 2009, but for today's particularly sweet one.)
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