Meanings
plural licorices · alternative liquorice
- countableusuallyA plant of species Glycyrrhiza glabra, or sometimes in North America, the related American licorice plant Glycyrrhiza lepidota.
- uncountableusuallyA type of candy made from that plant's dried root or its extract.
Synonyms: sugarallie
- uncountableusuallychemistryA flavoring agent made from dried root portions of the aforementioned plant.
- uncountableusuallyA supposed aphrodisiac made in the past from dried roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Glycyrrhiza echinata.
- endearinguncountableusuallyAn attractive woman.
Chick alert, 2 o'clock. What a licorice.
1996 June 14, The Cable Guy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA type of candy made from that plant's dried root or its extract.
More synonyms by meaning
noundeep-rooted coarse-textured plant native to the Mediterranean region having blue flowers and pinnately compound leaves; widely cultivated in Europe for its long thick sweet roots
nouna black candy flavored with the dried root of the licorice plant
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekγλυκύρριζα
- Late Latinliquiritia
- Old Frenchlicoresse
- Middle Englishlycorys
- Englishlicorice
From Middle English lycorys, from Old French licoresse, from Late Latin liquiritia, alteration of Ancient Greek γλυκύρριζα (glukúrrhiza): γλυκύς (glukús, “sweet”) + ῥίζα (rhíza, “root”) (English glucose, English rhizome). Doublet of glycyrrhiza.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek γλυκύρριζα
- γλυκύρριζα (glukúrrhiza)plant
Arabic عِرْقْسُوس, نَبَات اَلسُّوس
- عِرْقْسُوس (ʕirqsūs)plant
- نَبَات اَلسُّوس (nabāt as-sūs)plant
- سُوس (sūs)plant
Basque erregaliz
- erregalizplant
Bulgarian сладник, женско биле
- сладник (sladnik)plant
- женско биле (žensko bile)plant
Catalan regalèssia, regalèssia
- regalèssiaplant
- regalèssiaconfection
Chinese Cantonese 甘草
- 甘草 (gam¹ cou²)plant
Chinese Mandarin 甘草, 歐亞甘草 /欧亚甘草
- 甘草 (gāncǎo)plant
- 歐亞甘草 /欧亚甘草 (ōuyà gāncǎo)plant
- 甘草糖 (gāncǎotáng)confection
Czech lékořice
- lékořiceplant
Danish lakrids, lakrids
- lakridsplant
- lakridsconfection
Dutch zoethout, drop
- zoethoutplant
- dropconfection
Esperanto glicirizo, lakrico
- glicirizoplant
- lakricoconfection
- glicirizoconfection
Estonian lagritsa-magusjuur, lagrits
- lagritsa-magusjuurplant
- lagritsconfection
Finnish lakritsi, laku
- lakritsiplant
- lakuplant
- lakritsikasviplant
- lakuconfection
- lakritsiconfection
- lakritsaconfection
French réglisse, réglisse
- réglisseplant
- réglisseconfection
German Süßholz, Lakritze
- Süßholzplant
- Lakritzeplant
- Lakritzeconfection
- Lakritzconfection
Greek γλυκόριζα
- γλυκόριζα (glykóriza)plant
Hungarian édesgyökér, medvecukor
- édesgyökérplant
- medvecukorplant
- medvecukorconfection
Icelandic lakkrís
- lakkrísconfection
Indonesian akar manis, permen akar manis
- akar manisplant
- permen akar manisconfection
- permen Belandaconfection
Irish carra mhilis, liocras
- carra mhilisplant
- liocrasconfection
Italian liquirizia, liquirizia
- liquiriziaplant
- liquiriziaconfection
Japanese 甘草, 甘木
- 甘草plant
- 甘木 (amaki)plant
- リコリス (rikorisu)plant
- リコリス菓子 (rikorisu kashi)confection
Korean 감초
- 감초 (gamcho)plant
Latin liquirītia
- liquirītiaplant
Lithuanian saldymedis
- saldymedisplant
Malay akar manis, likuoris
- akar manisplant
- likuorisconfection
Norwegian lakris
- lakrisplant
Norwegian Bokmål lakris
- lakrisconfection
Polish lukrecja, lukrecja
- lukrecjaplant
- lukrecjaconfection
Portuguese alcaçuz, regaliz
- alcaçuzplant
- regalizplant
- doce de alcaçuzconfection
Romanian lemn-dulce
- lemn-dulceplant
Russian соло́дка, лакри́ца
- соло́дка (solódka)plant
- лакри́ца (lakríca)plant
- лакри́чник (lakríčnik)plant
- лакри́ца (lakríca)confection
Slovak sladovka
- sladovkaplant
Spanish regaliz, alcazuz
- regalizplant
- alcazuzplant
- orozuzplant
- paloduzplant
- alfendozplant
- regaliciaplant
- regalizaplant
- arrezuzconfection
- regalizconfection
- regaliciaconfection
- regalizconfection
Swedish lakrits, lakritsrot
- lakritsplant
- lakritsrotplant
- lakritsconfection
Tagalog liquorice, regalis
- liquoriceplant
- regalisplant
- sagamaninplant
- regalisconfection
Tamil அதிமதுரம்
- அதிமதுரம் (atimaturam)plant
Thai ชะเอมเทศ, ชะเอมเทศ
- ชะเอมเทศ (chá-eem-têet)plant
- ชะเอมเทศ (chá-eem-têet)confection
Turkish meyan, meyan
- meyanplant
- meyanconfection
Ukrainian солодка
- солодка (solodka)plant
Vietnamese cam thảo
- cam thảoplant
Welsh licris, licris
- licrisplant
- licrisconfection
Yiddish לאַקריץ, לאַקרעץ
- לאַקריץ (lakrits)confection
- לאַקרעץ (lakrets)confection
- לאַקעריצע (lakeritse)confection
Cite this entry
licorice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/licorice
“licorice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/licorice. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “licorice,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/licorice.
Source: licorice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.