Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
loaf sugar

loaf sugar

9.3
A large hard block of sugar often shaped like a cone that people break into pieces at home
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : azúcar en pan

Examples

  • Loaf sugar, tea, wool, linen, glass, and nails.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The baker used a piece of loaf sugar to sweeten the fruit tarts.

  • In the old recipe, loaf sugar was preferred over granulated sugar for its rich flavor.

  • The children enjoyed their tea with a lump of loaf sugar on the side.

Synonyms

sugarloaf
vsloaf sugar
  • Archaic
1 9.6

A large cone of hard white sugar sold in the past

means the same thing but is the alternative written form
sugar loaf
vsloaf sugar
  • Archaic
8.8

A large solid cone of white sugar sold in the past

is the same meaning but uses a different word order in writing

How Solid

loaf sugar
  • Archaic
9.3
lump sugar
  • UK
1.6

Surface Forms

loaf sugar singular
loaf sugars plural

Morphology

loaf + sugar

The meaning 'a large hard mass of sugar shaped like a loaf' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'loaf' (a shaped mass) with 'sugar' (the sweet substance), indicating sugar in loaf form. This follows normal noun–noun compounding and shape-based description patterns (and is cross-linguistically common), so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the meaning even if the term is somewhat archaic.

Etymology

Loaf sugar comes from a time when sugar was sold as a hard block shaped like a loaf of bread. People would break off pieces to use, so loaf sugar means a large, hard mass of refined sugar sold before 'granulated sugar' became common.