Etymology
The word "sherbet" is from Turkish "şerbet", which is from Persian "شربت", which in turn comes from "sharbat", Arabic "sharba" a drink, from "shariba" to drink. Also called "sorbet", which comes from French "sorbet", from Italian "sorbetto" and in turn from Turkish "şerbet". The word is cognate to syrup in English. Historically it was a cool effervescent or iced fruit soft drink. The meaning, spelling and pronunciation have fractured between different countries. It is usually spelled "sherbet", but a common pronunciation changes this to "sherbert".
In Northern England, in particular Lancashire, sherbet and kali are two very different confections. Sherbet is generally recognised to be a powder based substance of the type found with liquorice (sherbet fountain). Kali however, is of a crystal form. Often found packaged in straws and available in a variety of colours and flavours. Both sherbet and kali may be fizzy.
Read more about this topic: Sherbet (powder)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)