Everyday LifeGreek → English
Treacle
/ˈtriːkəl/noun
Dark syrup left over from sugar refining, used in baking.
The Greek roots
θηριακή
thēriakḗ
antidote to venom
θηρίον
thēríon
wild beast
Literally: “remedy against wild beasts”
The story of the word
θηριακή was the antidote to the bite of venomous animals. Medieval Europe made elaborate versions, and Venice treacle ran to sixty-odd ingredients, viper flesh included, so treacle meant medicine in English for three centuries. The Bishops' Bible of 1568 is nicknamed the Treacle Bible for asking whether there is no treacle in Gilead. The syrup sense appears only in the 1690s, taken from the sweet base the medicine was stirred into.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
theriactheropodtreacly
In a sentence
Treacle tart is mostly golden syrup and breadcrumbs, whatever the name says.