caramel
Syllables: car·a·melUK/ˈkæ.ɹəˌmɛl//ˈkæɹ.ə.mɛl/
caramel noun: a smooth, chewy, sticky confection made by heating sugar and other ingredients until the sugars polymerize and become sticky.
Noun
caramel (countable and uncountable, plural caramels)
- A smooth, chewy, sticky confection made by heating sugar and other ingredients until the sugars polymerize and become sticky.
- 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.2004, Harold McGee, chapter 12, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN
- A (sometimes hardened) piece of this confection.
- 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.2004, Harold McGee, chapter 12, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN
- A yellow-brown color, like that of caramel.
Adjective
caramel (not comparable)
- Of a yellow-brown color.
- 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.2001, Nicole Sconiers, California Schemin': The Black Woman's Guide to Surviving in LA
Verb
caramel (third-person singular simple present caramels, present participle (US) carameling or (UK) caramelling, simple past and past participle (US) carameled or (UK) caramelled)
- To caramelize.
- 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.1900, M. M. Mallock, The Economics of Modern Cookery: Or, A Younger Son's Cookery Book
Proper noun capitalized: Caramel
Caramel (plural Caramels)
- A surname from Occitan.
caramel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
caramel in Hindi
- confection
- कैरमेल kairmel
caramel in Tamil
- confection
- கேரமல் kēramal
caramel in Marathi
- confection
- शर्करारंजक śarkarārañjak, कॅरमेल kĕrmel
caramel in Urdu
- کیریمل
More languagesFewer languages
- caramel in Bengali
- ক্যারামেল, কারামেল, ক্যারমেল
- caramel in Telugu
- కార్మెల్ kārmel
- caramel in Malayalam
- ഇളം തവിട്ടു നിറം, ഒരു മധുരപലഹാരം
- caramel in Kannada
- ಸುಟ್ಟಸಕ್ಕರೆ
- caramel in Punjabi
- ਕਾਰਾਮੇਲ, ਕੈਰਾਮੇਲ, ਕੈਰੇਮਲ
- caramel in Gujarati
- કારામેલ kārāmel
- caramel in Odia
- କାରାମେଲ, କାରାମେଲ୍, କାରାମେଲକୁ
- caramel in Nepali
- कारामेल, क्यारमेल, कारेमेल
- caramel in Tagalog
- karamelo, arnibal
- caramel in Arabic
- كَرَامِيل karāmīl
- caramel in Malay
- karamel
- caramel in Indonesian
- karamel
- caramel in Persian
- کارامل kârâmel
- caramel in Thai
- คาราเมล kaa-raa-meel, น้ำตาลไหม้
- caramel in Vietnamese
- kẹo caramen, kẹo
Examples of caramel in a sentence
- Major manufacturers add a small proportion of caramel to color their cognacs.
- He likes caramel as much as he likes fudge.
- You can even drizzle the pancakes with a little caramel sauce!
Forms of caramel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | caramels |
| alternative form (archaic) | caromel |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | caramels |
| present participle US | carameling |
| present participle UK | caramelling |
| past participle US | carameled |
| past US | carameled |
| past participle UK | caramelled |
| past UK | caramelled |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Caramels |
Origin of caramel
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.
Borrowed from French Caramel.
Words formed from caramel
Phrases with caramel
Questions about caramel
- What does caramel mean?
- Caramel means a smooth, chewy, sticky confection made by heating sugar and other ingredients until the sugars polymerize and become sticky.
- What is caramel in Hindi?
- Caramel in Hindi is कैरमेल (kairmel). See Caramel meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is caramel?
- Caramel can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce caramel?
- Caramel is pronounced /ˈkæ.ɹəˌmɛl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of caramel?
- The plural of caramel is caramels.
Words near caramel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: caramel (page history and authors); Caramel (page history and authors); caramel (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caramel (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caramel (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caramel (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); caramel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caramel (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caramel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-caramel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “caramel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/caramel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.