Meanings
candy1
plural candies · alternative kandi
- uncountableCrystallized sugar formed by boiling down sugar syrup.
- CanadaPhilippinesUSuncountableEdible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.
They came down to buy sugar, flour, saltfish or candy from Nana, to collect letters and exchange gossip.
1991, Celia Brayfield, The Prince - UScountableslanguncountablecrack cocaine.
- uncountableAn accessory (bracelet, etc.) made from pony beads, associated with the rave scene.
candy kid; candy raver
3 more examples
Then while our hands were still connected, he slid a colorful beaded bracelet among the many others he had off of his arm and then onto my wrist without having to break our intertwined hands. "And there you have it! Your first piece of kandi."
2013, Kristen Lynn Harkey, State of Summer: Love and Misadventure of a College StudentThe mantra of the rave is PLUR: peace, love, unity, respect, while the tribal badge is kandi: colourful bracelets made out of chunky beads (and not the same as candy, the drugs that might also feature, such as E or Molly).
2016, Susie Dent, Dent's Modern Tribes: The Secret Languages of BritainThe first candy bracelet I made was for myself. I alternated blue, orange, and glow-in-the-dark beads with letter beads that spelled “Ferari” to represent my (first) raver sobriquet, Ferrari Ravioli. (Yes, I spelled it wrong. I didn’t notice my typo at the time.) Side note: this is now referred to as “kandi” bracelets, but we spelled it the old-fashioned way.
2021, Samantha Durbin, Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s
present singular third person candies · participle present candying · participle past candied · past candied
candy2
plural candies · alternative candee · alternative candie · alternative candil · alternative kandy
- obsoleteA unit of weight used in southern India, equal to twenty maunds, roughly equal to 500 pounds avoirdupois but varying locally.
Synonyms: maunee
Candy3
Candy4
alternative Candia · alternative Candie
- historicalThe Mediterranean island of Crete.
Orsino, this is that Antonio That took the Phoenix and her fraught from Candy; And this is he that did the Tiger board, When your young nephew Titus lost his leg:
c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]3 more examples
Assure thy selfe that as for me I never will agree That Candie Joves owne foster place (as long as I there raigne) Shall unto such a monstruous Wight a Harbrow place remaine.
1567, Ovid, “The Eighth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLCc. 1619, John Ford (formerly attributed to Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher), The Laws of Candy, Act I, Scene 2, […] if to renown Your honours through the world, to fix your names, Like Blazing stars admir’d, and fear’d by all That have but heard of Candy or a Cretan, Be to deserve the approvement of my man-hood, Then thus much have I done:
CRETE, or Candy, as at present call’d, was taken by the Turks from the Possession of the brave Venetians, who defended it some Years against a constant Siege, and made the Place a bloody Purchase to the Turkish Army:
1709, Aaron Hill, chapter 27, in A Full and Just Account of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire in All its Branches, London, page 218
Candy5
alternative Candi · alternative Candia · alternative Kandy
- historicalThe Kingdom of Kandy on the island now known as Sri Lanka; (by extension) the British colony of Ceylon on that island.
Mr. W. H. GREGORY, the accomplished Member for Galway, goes to Ceylon as Governor. […] A pleasant exile, and a safe return, are Mr. Punch’s sweet wishes to him who departeth for Candy.
1872 January 20, Punch - historicalThe city of Kandy, the capital of that kingdom.
The First is the City of Candy, so generally called by the Christians, probably from Conde, which in the Chingulays Language signifies Hills, for among them it is situated […]
1681, Robert Knox, chapter 2, in An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, London: R. Chiswell, page 5
Candy6
- A surname.
Suddenly, to his horror, Mr Candy found himself in what Ma would have called a terrible two-and-eight.
1963, H. E. Bates, Oh! To be in England1 more example
The phone was then handed over to the other perpetrating programmer of SPECTACLE who described himself as 'the other Simon' who talked me through some of the program's low spots while Robin Candy punched the buttons on the Spectrum.
1985 March, Crash, number 14, page 62
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA unit of weight used in southern India, equal to twenty maunds, roughly equal to 500 pounds avoirdupois but varying locally.
confection
More synonyms by meaning
nouna rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts
verbcoat with something sweet, such as a hard sugar glaze
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
candy · noun, verb
- Proto-Dravidian*kaṇṭu
- Sanskritखण्ड“piece, fragment, candied sugar, dried molasses”
- Persianکند
- Arabicقَنْد“rock candy”
- Arabicسُكَّر قَنْدِي
- Old Frenchsucre candi
- Middle Englishsugre candy
- Englishcandy
From Middle English sugre candy, from Old French sucre candi (literally “candied sugar”), from Arabic سُكَّر قَنْدِي (sukkar qandī), from Arabic قَنْد (qand, “rock candy”), from Persian کند (kand) from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa, “piece, fragment, candied sugar, dried molasses”), root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”), or from Proto-Dravidian *kaṇṭu; compare Tamil கண்டு (kaṇṭu, “hard candy”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →candy · noun
- Sanskritखण्डन
- Marathiखंडी
- Englishcandy
From Marathi खंडी (khaṇḍī), from Sanskrit खण्डन (khaṇḍana), from root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”).
More words from Marathi, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Candy · proper noun
- Middle Persian*handag
- Arabicخَنْدَق
- Arabicرَبْض الخَنْدَق
- Ancient GreekΧάνδαξ
- LatinCandia
- EnglishCandy
From Venetan and Latin Candia, from Ancient Greek Χάνδαξ (Khándax) or Χάνδακας (Khándakas), from Arabic رَبْض الخَنْدَق (rabḍ al-ḵandaq) (in particular Arabic خَنْدَق (ḵandaq), borrowed from Middle Persian *handag (whence Classical Persian هندک (handak, “moat”))), name of the Cretan city of Heraklion under the Emirate of Crete.
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Candy · proper noun
- Sanskritखण्ड
- Tamilகண்டி
- PortugueseCandea
- EnglishCandy
From Portuguese Candea, from Tamil கண்டி (kaṇṭi), possibly further from Sinhalese, ultimately from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa).
More words from Portuguese, Tamil, Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans lekkergoed
- lekkergoedpiece of candy
Arabic حَلْوَى, حَلْوَى سُكَّرِيَّة
- حَلْوَى (ḥalwā)piece of candy
- حَلْوَى سُكَّرِيَّة (ḥalwā sukkariyya)piece of candy
Bengali মিছরি, ক্যান্ডি
- মিছরি (michori)piece of candy
- ক্যান্ডি (kênḍi)piece of candy
Bulgarian бонбо́н, захаросвам
- бонбо́н (bonbón)piece of candy
- захаросвам (zaharosvam)to cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Catalan caramel, llaminadura
- caramelpiece of candy
- llaminadurapiece of candy
- llepoliapiece of candy
- candirto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Chinese Cantonese 糖
- 糖piece of candy
Chinese Mandarin 糖果, 糖
- 糖果 (tángguǒ)piece of candy
- 糖 (táng)piece of candy
Czech sladkost, bonbón
- sladkostpiece of candy
- bonbónpiece of candy
Danish slik
- slikpiece of candy
Dutch snoepje
- snoepjepiece of candy
Esperanto dolĉaĵo, sukeraĵo
- dolĉaĵopiece of candy
- sukeraĵopiece of candy
Estonian komm, kompvek
- kommpiece of candy
- kompvekpiece of candy
Finnish karkki, kandeerata
- karkkipiece of candy
- kandeeratato cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
French bonbon, sucrerie
- bonbonpiece of candy
- sucreriepiece of candy
- dragéepiece of candy
- candirto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
- confireto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
German Süßigkeit, Konfekt
- Süßigkeitpiece of candy
- Konfektpiece of candy
- Bonbonpiece of candy
- kandierento cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
- Candyunit of weight
Greek καραμέλα, ζαχαρωτό
- καραμέλα (karaméla)piece of candy
- ζαχαρωτό (zacharotó)piece of candy
- καραμελώνω (karamelóno)to cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Hebrew סוכריה, סֻכָּרִיָּה
- סוכריהpiece of candy
- סֻכָּרִיָּה (sukariyá)piece of candy
- מַמְתָּק (mamták)piece of candy
- סיכר (sikér)to cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Hindi मिसरी, खण्ड
- मिसरी (misrī)piece of candy
- खण्ड (khaṇḍ)piece of candy
- कैंडी (kaiṇḍī)piece of candy
- खंड (khaṇḍ)piece of candy
Hungarian cukorka, édesség
- cukorkapiece of candy
- édességpiece of candy
- kandírozto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Icelandic sælgæti, nammi
- sælgætipiece of candy
- nammipiece of candy
Indonesian permen, gula-gula
- permenpiece of candy
- gula-gulapiece of candy
Irish milseán
- milseánpiece of candy
Italian caramella, confetto
- caramellapiece of candy
- confettopiece of candy
- candireto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Japanese キャンデー, キャンディ
- キャンデー (kyandē)piece of candy
- キャンディ (kyandi)piece of candy
- お菓子 (okashi)piece of candy
- 飴 (ame)piece of candy
Korean 캔디, 사탕
- 캔디 (kaendi)piece of candy
- 사탕 (satang)piece of candy
- 엿 (yeot)piece of candy
Latin cuppēdia, bellāria
- cuppēdiapiece of candy
- bellāriapiece of candy
Latvian saldums, konfekte
- saldumspiece of candy
- konfektepiece of candy
Lithuanian saldainis
- saldainispiece of candy
Malay gula-gula
- gula-gulapiece of candy
Norwegian Bokmål godteri
- godteripiece of candy
Polish cukierek, kandyzować
- cukierekpiece of candy
- kandyzowaćto cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Portuguese rebuçado, bombom
- rebuçadopiece of candy
- bombompiece of candy
- docepiece of candy
- balapiece of candy
- confeitopiece of candy
- docinhopiece of candy
- candilunit of weight
Romanian bomboană
- bomboanăpiece of candy
Russian конфе́та, сласть
- конфе́та (konféta)piece of candy
- сласть (slastʹ)piece of candy
Scottish Gaelic suiteas
- suiteaspiece of candy
Slovak cukrík
- cukríkpiece of candy
Spanish caramelo, dulce
- caramelopiece of candy
- dulcepiece of candy
- confitepiece of candy
- golosinapiece of candy
- drageapiece of candy
- cotufapiece of candy
- chucheríapiece of candy
- chuchepiece of candy
- lamínpiece of candy
- golmajeríapiece of candy
- galgueríapiece of candy
Swahili tamtam
- tamtampiece of candy
Swedish godis, karamell
- godispiece of candy
- karamellpiece of candy
- kanderato cook, or coat with sugar or syrup
Tagalog kendi
- kendipiece of candy
Tamil கண்டி, பாரம்
- கண்டி (kaṇṭi)unit of weight
- பாரம் (pāram)unit of weight
Thai ขนม, ขนมหวาน
- ขนม (kà-nǒm)piece of candy
- ขนมหวาน (kà-nǒm-wǎan)piece of candy
- ลูกอม (lûuk-om)piece of candy
Turkish tatlı, şeker
- tatlıpiece of candy
- şekerpiece of candy
- bonbonpiece of candy
Ukrainian цуке́рка, цуке́рок
- цуке́рка (cukérka)piece of candy
- цуке́рок (cukérok)piece of candy
- конфе́та (konféta)piece of candy
- бонбо́н (bonbón)piece of candy
Urdu کَینْڈی, مِصْری
- کَینْڈی (kainḍī)piece of candy
- مِصْری (misrī)piece of candy
- مِٹھائی کی گولی (miṭhāī kī golī)piece of candy
Vietnamese kẹo
- kẹopiece of candy
Yiddish צוקערל, קאָנפֿעקט
- צוקערל (tsukerl)piece of candy
- קאָנפֿעקט (konfekt)piece of candy
- צוקערקע (tsukerke)piece of candy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with candy
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
candy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candy
“candy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “candy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/candy.
Source: candy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.