butterscotch

/ˈbʌtɚˌskɑt͡ʃ/

UK: /ˈbʌtəˌskɒtʃ/

butterscotch

English Noun Top 28,685

Definition

A hard candy made from butter, brown sugar, syrup and vanilla.

Etymology

From butter + scotch, with the second element deriving (not from scotch whiskey or Scotland, but) from Middle English scocchen (“to score, nick, cut”), in reference to how the candy is boiled and hardened and then usually scored to make breaking it apart easier. The word is usually said to have originally been a trademark of Parkinson's, who is claimed to have invented it.