caramel

Borrowed from French caramel, from Spanish caramelo, from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of calamus (“reed”) (and therefore a doublet of chalumeau and shawm), or alternatively from Medieval Latin cannamellis, which is either a compound of canna + mellis or possibly a borrowing from Arabic.

• (UK, General Australian, General New Zealand)[1] and (US, Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /ˈkæɹ.ə.məl/,[2] /ˈkæɹ.ə.mɛl/,[2] or IPA^(key): /ˈkæ.ɹə.məl/,[3] /ˈkæ.ɹə.mɛl/[3]
• (US, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛɹ.ə.məl/,[3] /ˈkɛɹ.ə.mɛl/[3]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹ.məl/,[2][3][4] /ˈkɑɹ.ə.məl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

caramel (countable and uncountable, plural caramels)

1. A smooth, chewy, sticky confection made by heating sugar and other ingredients until the sugars polymerize and become sticky.
2. A (sometimes hardened) piece of this confection.
3. A yellow-brown color, like that of caramel.

   caramel colour:  

Both the two syllable and the three syllable pronunciations are very common in all regions of the United States. The three-syllable pronunciation is more common than the two-syllable one in the South (excluding western Texas), northern New Jersey, eastern New York, and New England, while the two-syllable one is more common in other regions.[5]

• caramelise, caramelize

• fudge, toffee

caramel (not comparable)

1. Of a yellow-brown color.
   • 2001, Nicole Sconiers, California Schemin': The Black Woman's Guide to Surviving in LA

     Every time I saw this caramel cutie, she was working on a new proposal or business plan or flyer to promote herself and her event coordinating business.

caramel (third-person singular simple present caramels, present participle caramelling, simple past and past participle caramelled)

1. (transitive, cooking, dated) To caramelize.
   • 1900, M. M. Mallock, The Economics of Modern Cookery: Or, A Younger Son's Cookery Book

     To turn out, place the dish over the mould, and invert both together, when, if the caramelling has been complete, the pudding should slip out without any difficulty at all.

• cameral, ceramal, maceral, reclama

Borrowed from Spanish caramelo.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /kə.ɾəˈmɛl/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ka.ɾaˈmɛl/

caramel m (plural caramels)

1. caramel (sticky confection made by heating sugar)
2. candy, sweet
   • 2016 November 9, Idoya Noain, “¿Què serà del nostre país?”, in El Periódico‎:

     “És com si a Hillary Clinton li haguessin ficat la mà a les butxaques i li haguessin tret els caramels.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• “caramel” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Borrowed from Spanish caramelo, from Portuguese caramelo, probably from Late Latin calamellus, and therefore doublet of the inherited chalumeau.

• IPA^(key): /ka.ʁa.mɛl/

• Audio

  (file)

caramel m (plural caramels)

1. caramel, fudge

• caraméliser

• “caramel” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• calmera, clamera, réclama