# caramel
## English
### Alternative forms

* caromel (archaic)

### Etymology

Borrowed from French caramel, from Spanish caramelo, from Portuguese caramelo, dissimilated from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of calamus (“reed”) (and a doublet of chalumeau and shawm). Alternatively from Medieval Latin cannamellis, which is a compound of canna + mellis.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /ˈkæɹ.ə.mɛl/, /ˈkæɹ.ə.məl/
* (General American, without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈkæɹ.ə.mɛl/, /ˈkæɹ.ə.məl/
* (General American, Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈkɛɹ.ə.mɛl/, /ˈkɛɹ.ə.məl/
* Audio (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈkɑɹ.məl/, /ˈkɑɹ.ə.məl/, /ˈkɑɹ.ə.mɛl/
* Audio (US):(file)

#### Usage notes

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.

### Noun

caramel (countable and uncountable, plural caramels)
* (uncountable) A smooth, chewy, sticky confection made by heating sugar and other ingredients until the sugars polymerize and become sticky.
** 2004, Harold McGee, chapter 12, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN:The usual technique for making caramel is to mix table sugar with some water, then heat until the water has boiled off and the molten sugar colors.
* (countable) A (sometimes hardened) piece of this confection.
** 2004, Harold McGee, chapter 12, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN:Caramel has a rich, complex flavor and consistency, viscous and sticky and creamy all at once, that works well with most sweets and fruits, with coffee and chocolate, and even with salt: the prized caramels of Brittany are made with a notable dose of sea salt.
* A yellow-brown color, like that of caramel.
    caramel:

#### Derived terms

* ammonia caramel
* caramel apple
* caramel chicken
* caramelesque
* caramel fuel
* caramelicious
* caramelise, caramelize
* caramelization
* caramellike
* caramelly
* caustic sulphite caramel
* creme caramel
* crème caramel
* sulphite ammonia caramel

#### See also

* fudge, toffee

### Adjective

caramel (not comparable)
* 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.

### Verb

caramel (third-person singular simple present caramels, present participle caramelling or carameling, simple past and past participle caramelled or carameled)
* (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.

### References

* 1 2 “caramel”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.: /ˈkarəmɛl/, /ˈkarəm(ə)l/
* 1 2 3 “caramel”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
* 1 2 3 4 “caramel”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* ↑ “caramel” (US) / “caramel” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.: /ˈkerəˌmel/, /ˈkɑrməl/
* ↑ Dialect Survey map 1, showing that both pronunciations are common in all regions, and map 2, showing which regions the di- and tri-syllabic pronunciations predominate in

### Further reading

* caramel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Maracle, cameral, ceramal, maceral, reclama

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish caramelo, from Portuguese caramelo, from Latin calamellus. Doublet of caramell.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [kə.ɾəˈmɛl]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ka.ɾaˈmɛl]

### Noun

caramel m (plural caramels)
* caramel (sticky confection made by heating sugar)
* 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 quotation)

#### Derived terms

* acaramel·lar
* caramel·litzar
* encaramel·lar

### Further reading

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

## French
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ka.ʁa.mɛl/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

caramel m (plural caramels)
* caramel, fudge

#### Derived terms

* caraméliser

#### Descendants

* → Czech: karamel
* → Danish: karamel
* → Finnish: karamelli
* → Dutch: karamel
* → English: caramel
* → German: Karamell
* → Norwegian Bokmål: karamell
* → Norwegian Nynorsk: karamell
* → Polish: karmel
* → Russian: караме́ль (karamélʹ)
** → Armenian: կարամել (karamel)
** → Kazakh: карамель (karamel)
** → Ukrainian: караме́ль (karamélʹ)
* → Swedish: karamell
* → Turkish: karamel

### Further reading

* “caramel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* calmera, clamera, réclama

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French caramel.

### Noun

caramel n (plural carameluri)
* caramel