molasses

== English == === Etymology 1 === From Portuguese melaços or Spanish melazos, from Late Latin mellacium (“must, honey-sweet thing”), from mel (“honey”) + -āceus (“-aceous”) + -ium, q.v. Some alternative forms derived or influenced by Spanish melaza and French mélasse, conjectured to derive from unattested Late Latin mellacea, from mel + -ācea. ==== Alternative forms ==== mollasses, malasses, merlaasses, molassey, molassy, melasus, molassos, malassoes, malassos, molossus, melasses, mallassus, malosses, mellasses, milasses, molassers, molossoes, molossos, mullasses, molosses, melossus, mollossus, molossas, molases, mellosses, moloses, merlassers, millasses, molassisis ==== Pronunciation ==== (General American) IPA(key): /məˈlæsɪz/, [məˈlæsɪz], [mɵˈlæsɪz] (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /məʊˈlasɪz/, /məˈlasɪz/, [məˈlæsɪz] (Scots) IPA(key): /məˈlasɪz/ Rhymes: -æsɪz ==== Noun ==== molasses (usually uncountable, singular molass) A thick, sweet syrup drained from sugarcane, especially (Canada, US) the still thicker and sweeter syrup produced by boiling down raw molasses. (US) Any similarly thick and sweet syrup produced by boiling down fruit juices, tree saps, etc., especially concentrated maple syrup. 1777 Sept. 13, Manessah Cutler, Journal, s.v.: Boiled some cornstalk juice into molasses. (figuratively) Anything considered figuratively sweet, especially sweet words. 1972 Nov. 26, New York Times Book Review, p. 1: ...the mournful molasses of his prose... (figuratively) Something which moves or works extremely slowly. (Scotland, obsolete) plural of molass: whiskey made from molasses. (Scotland, rare, obsolete) Synonym of molass: whiskey made from molasses. ===== Usage notes ===== Likely adopted in plural form because of its origin in pieces left over from sugar processing, although now usually construed as a singular or uncountable liquid except in some southern and southern-influenced dialects of American English. ===== Synonyms ===== (concentrated sugarcane syrup): long sweetening, treacle, theriac, sorghum syrup, cane syrup (things considered figuratively sweet): See sugar and honey ===== Hyponyms ===== (any sweet concentrated syrup): maple syrup ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== molasses (obsolete) third-person singular simple present indicative of molass ==== Further reading ==== molasses on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Pronunciation ==== (General American) IPA(key): /məˈlæsɪz/, /məˈlɑsɪz/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /məʊlasɪz/, /məˈlasɪz/ ==== Noun ==== molasses (geology) plural of molasse === References === “molasses, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. “molass, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. “† molass, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. “molasse, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. “molasses”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “molasses”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.