Sugar

(shōog'ar), n. [O. Eng. sugre, Fr. & Pr. sucre, It. zucchero, Sp. & Pg. azúcar, O. H. Ger. zu-cura, N. H. Ger. zucker, Icel. syk'r, Dan. sukker, Sw. socker, D. suiker, W. sugr, Armor. sukr, Ir. & Gael. sucar, Russ. sachar, Lat. saccharum, Gr. σάκχαρ, σάκχαρι, σάκχαρον, Ar. sukkar, assukkar, Per. schokkar, Skr. sarkara, Pracrit. sakkara.] 1. A sweet, crystalline substance obtained from certain vegetable products, as the sugar-cane, maple, beet, sorghum, and the like. The sugar in common domestic use is manufactured chiefly from the sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum), but also from the sugar-maple, the beet, the sorghum, and other plants. From the saccharine liquor, after being concentrated by heat, and undergoing other treatment, the sugar separates from the molasses in grains. The sirup or molasses is drained off, leaving the sugar in the state known in commerce by the name of raw or muscovado sugar, it being then of a dark-brown color. It is afterward refined, and takes the names of lump, loaf, refined, &c., according to the different degrees of purification.

2. That which resembles sugar in taste, appearance, or the like; as, sugar of lead, that is, acetate of lead, so called because it has a close resemblance to sugar in appearance, and tastes sweet.
3. Figuratively, compliment or flattery employed to disguise or render acceptable something obnoxious.

Cane sugar, that made from the juice of the sugar-cane, consisting of 24 parts of carbon to 22 parts each of hydrogen and oxygen. — Grape sugar, the sugar formed in the grape and many other fruits, and in honey, and also found in diabetic urine, consisting of 24 parts of carbon to 28 each of hydrogen and oxygen. — Sugar of milk, sugar found in the whey of milk, consisting of 24 parts each of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.