Saccharose
/ˈsæk.ə.roʊz/noun
A disaccharide sugar composed of glucose and fructose, commonly known as table sugar or sucrose.
Did you know?Saccharose belongs to the same ancient sugar-word family that traveled from Sanskrit and Persian into Greek, Arabic, Latin, and modern European languages.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
śarkarā
“Pebbles, gravel; later crystallized sugar, named for its grain-like appearance”
Ancient Persian
Persian
šakar
“Sugar”
Ancient Greek
Greek
sákcharon
“Sugar, borrowed from an eastern language”
Late Antiquity
Latin
saccharum
“Sugar or sugarcane-derived sweet substance”
18th Century
French
saccharose
“A coined chemical term for the sugar now commonly called sucrose”
19th Century
English
saccharose
“The scientific name for ordinary table sugar”