confect

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin cōnfectus, past participle of cōnficere, from com- (“together”) + facere (“to make”). As a noun, Doublet of comfit. See also confection.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈfɛkt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

Verb

confect (third-person singular simple present confects, present participle confecting, simple past and past participle confected)

1. (transitive) To make up, prepare, or compound; to produce by combining ingredients or materials; to concoct.

   The woman confected a home remedy for the traveler's illness.

   The young bride's friends confected a dress from odds and ends of fabric.

   • 1604, William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, Aurora:

     [My joys] are still confected with some feares.

   • 1629, Sir Thomas Herbert, Travels in Persia:

     Of this were confected the famous everlasting lamps and tapers.

   • 2015, Thomas M. Izbicki, The Eucharist in Medieval Canon Law, page 114:

     The 1227 provincial Council of Trier took a more admonitory approach, warning that a priest sinned mortally if he failed to confect the Eucharist properly, leading the people into idolatry by having them adore mere bread: Likewise the priest who celebrates mass should confect the body of Christ and read the Canon.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To make into a confection; to prepare as a candy, sweetmeat, preserve, or the like.
   • 1613, William Browne, Brittania's Pastorals, book 1, song 2:

     Saffron confected in Cilicia

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnfɛkt/

Noun

confect (plural confects)

1. (obsolete) A rich, sweet, food item made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts; a confection, comfit.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing:

     Surely, a princely testimony, a goodly count—confect; a sweet gallant, surely!

   • 1652, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physitian:

     Caraway confects, once only dipped in sugar, and a spoonful of them eaten in the morning fasting, and as many after each meal, is a most admirable remedy for those that are troubled with wind.

   • 1889, Arthur Conan Doyle, Micah Clarke, Chapter 1:

     She made salves and eyewaters, powders and confects, cordials and persico, orangeflower water and cherry brandy, each in its due season, and all of the best.

Related terms

• confection
• confectionary
• confectionery
• confectioner