CANDY AND CONFECTIONS. Candy is a collective name for sugary treats such as fudge, taffy, bright colored gumdrops, and boiled sugar. Originally, "sugar candy" meant sugar concentrated to the point that it formed a hard crystalline mass on cooling. The term (derived ultimately from a Sanskrit root, through Arabic sukkar quandi) was first recorded in English in the late fourteenth century; the word "candy" used alone appeared in the eighteenth century. The equivalent word in British English is "sweets." "Confection" is a word with a wider meaning. Sugar-based candy represents one category of confections (and is the sense mostly discussed here). Chocolate is another category (though the fillings of bars may be candy). The idea of a confection extends to pastry, cookies, and cakes. The trade of the confectioner, who is skilled in making delicate sweet things, links these different areas of expertise together.

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