bonbon

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bonbon"

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.?

Proto-Italic *dwenos

Archaic Latin duenos

Old Latin duonus

Latin bonus

Old French bon

Middle French bon

French bonredup.

French bonbonbor.

English bonbon

Borrowed from French bonbon, reduplication of bon (“good”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Australia):

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Noun

bonbon (plural bonbons)

1. A sweet, especially a small chocolate-covered candy.
2. (cooking) A small, spherical savory snack or canapé.

   The terrine was served with black pudding bonbons.

3. (Australia, South Africa) A Christmas cracker.

Derived terms

• cracker bonbon

Related terms

• bonbonniere

Translations

chocolate-covered sweet — see candy,‎ sweet

See also

• Bonbon (etymologically unrelated)
• bon bon chicken (etymologically unrelated)
• bonbonne (etymologically unrelated)

Czech

bonbony

Alternative forms

• bonbón

Etymology

Borrowed from French bonbon, reduplication of bon (“good”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbombon]
• IPA^(key): [ˈbomboːn]

Noun

bonbon m inan

1. candy

   Synonyms: cukrátko, cukrovinka, sladkost

Declension

Declension of bonbon (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	bonbon	bonbony
genitive	bonbonu	bonbonů
dative	bonbonu	bonbonům
accusative	bonbon	bonbony
vocative	bonbone	bonbony
locative	bonbonu	bonbonech
instrumental	bonbonem	bonbony

Further reading

• “bonbon”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “bonbon”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French bonbon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔnˈbɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bon‧bon
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

bonbon m (plural bonbons, diminutive bonbonnetje n)

1. a praline, a small chocolate-covered candy/sweet

Derived terms

• bonbonnerie
• kersenbonbon

Descendants

• → Indonesian: bonbon

French

les bonbons

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.?

Proto-Italic *dwenos

Archaic Latin duenos

Old Latin duonus

Latin bonus

Old French bon

Middle French bon

French bonredup.

French bonbon

Reduplication of bon (“good”). Compare English goodies.

The standard rule in French is to write ⟨m⟩ in front of bilabial consonants (/m/, /p/, /b/). This rule does not apply to the words derived from bon, including embonpoint, bonbonnerie, bonbonnier, and bonbonnière.

The word bonbonne (“carboy”) is unrelated from bon and borrowed from Occitan boumbouno, ultimately from Latin bombus; the variant spelling bombonne reflects this etymology and has been noted as such by some lexicographers.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔ̃.bɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Rhymes: -ɔ̃

Noun

bonbon m (plural bonbons)

1. sweet, candy
   • 1964, Jacques Brel, “Les bonbons”, in Les bonbons:

     Je vous ai apporté des bonbons / Parce que les fleurs c'est périssable / Puis les bonbons c'est tellement bon / Bien que les fleurs soient plus présentables / Surtout quand elles sont en boutons / Mais je vous ai apporté des bonbons

     I brought you sweets / Because flowers are perishable / And the sweets are so good / Even though flowers would be more presentable / Especially when they're buds / But I brought you sweets

   • 2017 October 19, “Hallohallo”, in Le Coupe-Circuit [The Circuit Breaker], Konami:

     Hallo, hallo, vide du cerveau, / Plus d’entrailles, pas de ventre rond. / Friand de bonbons et chamallows, / Attention à toi et à ton sac de bonbons.

     Hallo, hallo, brain is hollow, / More of guts, none of a round belly. / Tasty of sweets and marshmallows, / Watch yourself and your sack of candy.

Derived terms

• bonbonnerie
• bonbonnier
• bonbonnière
• coûter bonbon
• rose bonbon

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: бонбон (bonbon)
• → Czech: bonbon, bonbón
• → Dutch: bonbon
  • → Indonesian: bonbon
• → Egyptian Arabic: بونبونى (bonbōni)
• → English: bonbon
• → German: Bonbon
• → Ladino: bombón
• → Luxembourgish: Bonbon
• → Ottoman Turkish: بون بون (bonbon)
  • Turkish: bonbon
• → Portuguese: bombom
• → Romanian: bomboană
• → Sotho: dipompong
• → Slovak: bonbón
• → Spanish: bombón

Adverb

bonbon

1. (slang) expensive

Further reading

• “bonbon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch bonbon, from French bonbon, reduplication of bon (“good”), from Latin bonus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɔnbɔn]
• Rhymes: -bon, -on, -n
• Hyphenation: bon‧bon

Noun

bonbon (plural bonbon-bonbon)

1. (dialectal) bonbon

   Synonyms: kembang gula, gula-gula, permen

Further reading

• “bonbon”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bonbon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bomˈbɔn/
• Rhymes: -ɔn
• Hyphenation: bon‧bòn

Noun

bonbon m (invariable)

1. bonbon
   • 1979, “Ahi Maria”, in Mogol (lyrics), Rino Gaetano (music), Resta vile maschio, dove vai? [Stay vile, male! Where are you going?], performed by Rino Gaetano:

     Vado avanti tristemente a champagne e bonbon.

     I, sadly [with sadness], get by on champagne and bonbons.

Further reading

• “bonbon”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Romanian

Noun

bonbon n (plural bonboane)

1. obsolete form of bomboană

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bonbon	bonbonul	bonboane	bonboanele
genitive-dative	bonbon	bonbonului	bonboane	bonboanelor
vocative	bonbonule		bonboanelor

References

• bonbon in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN