Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or process of confecting or the result of it.
  • noun A sweet preparation, such as candy.
  • noun A sweetened medicinal compound; an electuary.
  • noun A piece displaying splendid craft, skill, and work.
  • transitive verb To make into a confection.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To prepare for use with sugar or syrup; compound.
  • To make up (elaborate articles of female attire).
  • noun The art or act of confecting or compounding different substances into one preparation: as, the confection of sweetmeats.
  • noun A composition or mixture, as of drugs, etc.; a preparation to be eaten or imbibed.
  • noun Something prepared or preserved with sugar or syrup.
  • noun In pharmacy, a preparation, in the form of a soft solid, in which one or more medicinal substances are incorporated with saccharine matter, with a view to their preservation or for more convenient administration.
  • noun [F.] A ready-made garment, as a mantle, wrap, fichu, etc., for women's wear, often of several materials, and always more or less elaborate and elegant: as, Madame A—has returned with a choice assortment of confections.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A composition of different materials.
  • noun A preparation of fruits or roots, etc., with sugar; a sweetmeat.
  • noun A composition of drugs.
  • noun (Med.) A soft solid made by incorporating a medicinal substance or substances with sugar, sirup, or honey.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A food item prepared very sweet, frequently decorated in fine detail, and often preserved with sugar, such as a candy, sweetmeat, fruit preserve, pastry, cake or the like.
  • noun The act or process of confecting; the process of making, compounding, or preparing something.
  • noun The result of such a process; something made up or confected; a concoction.
  • noun dated An artistic, musical, or literary work taken as frivolous, amusing, or contrived; a composition of a light nature.
  • noun dated Something, such as a garment or a decoration, seen as very elaborate, delicate, or luxurious, usually also seen as impractical or non-utilitarian.
  • noun pharmacology A preparation of medicine sweetened with sugar, honey, syrup, or the like; an electuary.
  • verb To make into a confection, prepare as a confection.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make into a confection
  • noun the act of creating something (a medicine or drink or soup etc.) by compounding or mixing a variety of components
  • noun a food rich in sugar

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Attested since 1345, from French confection, from Old French confeccion, from Latin confectionem (nominative confectio), from confectus, past participle of conficere ("to prepare"), from com- ("with") + facere ("to make, do"). Originally "the making by means of ingredients"; sense of "candy or light pastry" predominant since 1500's.

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Examples

  • But Winslow, after patiently repeating over and over the message of sympathy and friendship delivered him by the governor, produced a little pot of what he calls a confection of many comfortable conserves, and with the point of his knife inserted a portion between the sick man's teeth.

    Standish of Standish A story of the Pilgrims 1862

  • It tastes exactly like the stuff that you buy for exorbitant sums of money from glassed-in confection palaces.

    Archive 2007-12-01 Nupur 2007

  • Candied/glazed citrus peel - perfection in confection

    Candied Orange Peel « Baking History 2007

  • I think you went with the right title, Lindy -- this sweet confection is definitely more tart than cake.

    Paula Wolfert's Prune and Apple Tart with Filo Rosettes Lindy 2006

  • Of course such a character is the purest confection, which is why such cozy English detective stories are mocked by literary critics and by fans of the hard-boiled crime novel.

    'Lord Peter' Returns, And It's No Mystery Why 2010

  • Let Us Play collects a dozen tracks of up-to-the-minute electronica, ranging from the anti-nuke dub confection “Atomic Moog 2000,” to the breakbeat of “Return to the Margin,” to the mechanized lullaby of “Music for No Musicians,” to the full-out trance of “Timber.”

    Disquiet » Pump Up the HTML 1997

  • There was a regular queue of postulants to see this heavenly Eastern houri and buy her confection, which is very like Scotch butter-cake, but not so digestible; and even more filling at the price.

    The Martian George Du Maurier 1865

  • But the 53-room Art Deco confection, which is located a block from South Beach's main gay beach, is billing itself as the country's first large-scale, design-driven gay hotel.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • The confection is a nice balance of cream, coffee and chocolate.

    The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post Tom Sietsema 2011

  • Of course such a character is the purest confection, which is why such cozy English detective stories are mocked by literary critics and fans of the hard-boiled crime novel.

    NPR Topics: News 2010

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  • sweet defection

    March 9, 2011