sweet

Etymology

From Middle English sweete, swete, from Old English swēte (“sweet”), from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”). Cognate with Scots sweit, North Frisian sweete, West Frisian swiet, Low German sööt, Dutch zoet, German süß, Danish sød, Swedish söt,Norwegian søt, Latin suāvis (“sweet”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swiːt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt
• Homophone: suite

Adjective

sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)

1. Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

   a sweet apple

2. Having a taste of sugar.
   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel":

     A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

3. Containing a sweetening ingredient.
4. (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

   Sweet wines are better dessert wines.

5. Not having a salty taste.

   sweet butter

6. Having a pleasant smell.

   a sweet scent

   • Longfellow

     The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.

7. Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.

   sweet milk

8. Having a pleasant sound.

   a sweet tune

   • Nathaniel Hawthorne

     a voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful

9. Having a pleasing disposition.

   a sweet child

10. Having a helpful disposition.

    It was sweet of him to help out.

11. (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.

    sweet soil

    sweet crude oil

12. (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.

    The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.

    • 2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman‎:

      GORDON Strachan enjoyed the sweetest of his 16 matches in charge of Scotland so far as his team enhanced their prospects of Euro 2016 qualification with a crucial and deserved victory over Republic of Ireland.

13. (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamored (followed by with), fond (followed by of).

    The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.

14. (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.

    sweet water

    • Francis Bacon, Natural History.

      The white of an egg, or blood mingled with salt water, gathers the saltness and maketh the water sweeter; this may be by adhesion.

    • 1821, Robert Thomas, The modern practice of physic

      Nothing has been found so effectual for preserving water sweet at sea, during long voyages, as charring the insides of the casks well before they are filled.

15. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.

    a sweet face; a sweet colour or complexion

    • Milton

      Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

Adverb

sweet (comparative more sweet, superlative most sweet)

1. In a sweet manner.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Noun

sweet (countable and uncountable, plural sweets)

1. (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
2. (countable, Britain) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
3. (countable, Britain) A food eaten for dessert.

   Can we see the sweet menu, please?

4. sweetheart; darling.
   • Ben Jonson

     Wherefore frowns my sweet?

5. (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
   • Milton

     a wilderness of sweets

6. (obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.
   • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:

     Fear's fire to fervency, which makes love's sweet prove nectar.

Anagrams

• weest, weets

Etymology

From Old Dutch *swēt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-.

Noun

swêet n

1. sweat, perspiration

Further reading

• “sweet”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “sweet”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929