sweetmeat

[ sweet-meet ]

noun

1. Archaic. a sweet delicacy, as a candy or candied fruit, or, originally, a cake or pastry.

sweetmeat

/ ˈswiːtˌmiːt /

noun

1. a sweetened delicacy, such as a preserve, sweet, or, formerly, a cake or pastry

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweetmeat¹

First recorded before 1150; Old English swētmete, swōmete “delicacy” (not recorded in Middle English ); sweet, meat

Example Sentences

Media footage showed a man feeding the convicts sweetmeat outside the jail after touching the feet of one of them, a mark of respect.

From Reuters

While my parents devoted their time and energy to the service, I daydreamed about the forthcoming sweetmeat, a symphony of tabla and harmonium scoring my reverie.

From Salon

Merry, that is, until a crust of bread fell on the road or a sweetmeat toppled from an over-ambitious pyramid when, all childishness lost, all play forgotten, they fought ferociously in the dust for the food...my children had fought thus too, I remembered, but time had mellowed the memory or dimmed it, for it did not seem to me that they had struggled like these: teeth bared, nails clawing, ready, predatory like animals.

From Literature

And yet even my mighty sweet tooth has met its match in the form of a cinematic sweetmeat: “To All the Boys: Always and Forever.”

From New York Times

"And then," continued Tumnus excitedly, "everyone will expect us to be going down to the ship all day, making preparations for our guests. And let some of us go to the bazaars and spend every minim we have at the fruiterers and the sweetmeat sellers and the wine merchants, just as we would if we were really giving a feast. And let us order magicians and jugglers and dancing girls and flute players, all to be on board to-morrow night."

From Literature

Related Words

• candy
• chocolate
• confection
• dessert
• snack