sacchar-

1. a combining form meaning “sugar,” used in the formation of technical terms:

   saccharoid.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sacchar-¹

A combining form representing Medieval Latin saccharum, Greek sákkharon, ultimately from an Indo-Aryan source akin to Prakrit sakkarā, from Sanskrit śarkarā; sugar

Words That Use Sacchar-

What does sacchar- mean?

Sacchar- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “sugar.” It is often used in scientific terms, especially in chemistry.

Sacchar- comes from the Greek sákkharon, meaning “sugar.” The English word sugar is related to the Greek sákkharon, which ultimately comes from a Sanskrit root through Arabic. Discover the incredible pathways of sugar into English at our entry for the word.

What are variants of sacchar-?

When combined with words or word elements that begin with a consonant, sacchar- becomes saccharo-, as in saccharometer, an instrument for measuring the amount of sugar in a solution.

Examples of sacchar-

A word that features the combining form sacchar- that you may be familiar with is saccharine, meaning “of the nature of or resembling that of sugar.”

As we have seen, sacchar- means “sugar.” The second part of the word, -ine, is a suffix that means “like” or “of the nature of.” The word saccharine, then, literally means “sugar-like.”

While saccharine can be used to refer to sugar, it is often used metaphorically to describe something as “cloyingly agreeable” or “exaggeratedly sweet.”

A word you may have encountered in chemistry class that uses the combining form sacchari- is saccharide, an organic compound containing sugar, such as a disaccharide, monosaccharide, and polysaccharide.

What are some words that use or are related to the combining form sacchar-?

• saccharase
• saccharate
• saccharic
• saccharin

What are some other forms that sacchar- may be commonly confused with?

• sacro-
• sarco-

Break it down!

The combining form -meter means “measure.” What substance, generally speaking, is a saccharimeter used to measure?