1. A smooth chewy candy made with sugar, butter, cream or milk, and flavoring.
2. Burnt sugar, used for coloring and sweetening foods.
3. A moderate yellow brown.

[French, from Old French, from Old Spanish caramel, caramelo, from Portuguese caramel, from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of Latin calamus, reed, cane, from Greek kalamos.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.