candy

Etymology 1

From Middle English sugre candy, from Old French sucre candi (literally “candied sugar”), from Arabic سُكَّر قَنْدِي (sukkar qandī), from Arabic قَنْد (qand, “rock candy”), from Persian کند (kand) from Sanskrit खण्ड (khaṇḍa, “piece, fragment, candied sugar, dried molasses”), root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”), or from Proto-Dravidian *kaṇṭu; compare Tamil கண்டு (kaṇṭu, “hard candy”).

noun

1. (uncountable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.
   They came down to buy sugar, flour, saltfish or candy from Nana, to collect letters and exchange gossip. 1991, Celia Brayfield, The Prince
2. (countable, chiefly Canada, US, Philippines) A piece of confectionery of this kind.
   Unwholesome pink and yellow candies were sold from trays. 1991, Ann Granger, A Season for Murder
3. (slang, chiefly US) crack cocaine.
4. (uncountable) An accessory (bracelet, etc.) made from pony beads, associated with the rave scene.
   candy kid; candy raver
   Then while our hands were still connected, he slid a colorful beaded bracelet among the many others he had off of his arm and then onto my wrist without having to break our intertwined hands. "And there you have it! Your first piece of kandi." 2013, Kristen Lynn Harkey, State of Summer: Love and Misadventure of a College Student
   The mantra of the rave is PLUR: peace, love, unity, respect, while the tribal badge is kandi: colourful bracelets made out of chunky beads (and not the same as candy, the drugs that might also feature, such as E or Molly). 2016, Susie Dent, Dent's Modern Tribes: The Secret Languages of Britain
   The first candy bracelet I made was for myself. I alternated blue, orange, and glow-in-the-dark beads with letter beads that spelled “Ferari” to represent my (first) raver sobriquet, Ferrari Ravioli. (Yes, I spelled it wrong. I didn’t notice my typo at the time.) Side note: this is now referred to as “kandi” bracelets, but we spelled it the old-fashioned way. 2021, Samantha Durbin, Raver Girl: Coming of Age in the 90s

verb

1. (cooking) To cook in, or coat with, sugar syrup.
2. (intransitive) To have sugar crystals form in or on.
   Fruits preserved in sugar candy after a time.
3. (intransitive) To be formed into candy; to solidify in a candylike form or mass.

Etymology 2

From Marathi खंडी (khaṇḍī), from Sanskrit खण्डन (khaṇḍana), from root खण्ड् (khaṇḍ, “to divide, break into pieces”).

noun

1. (obsolete) A unit of mass used in southern India, equal to twenty maunds, roughly equal to 500 pounds avoirdupois but varying locally.