Sugar
information from Jorge Oliveira
The etymology reflects the spread of the commodity. From Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā), meaning "ground or candied sugar," originally "grit, gravel", came Persian shakar, whence Arabic سكر (sukkar), whence Medieval Latin succarum, whence 12th-century French sucre, whence the English word sugar. Italian zucchero, Spanish azúcar, and Portuguese açúcar came directly from Arabic, the Spanish and Portuguese words retaining the Arabic definite article. The earliest Greek word attested is σάκχαρις (sákkʰaris).