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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

treacle.

A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈtɹiː.kəl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈtɹiː.ku/New-Zealand/ˈtɹiː.kɯ/New-Zealand
  1. A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.

    Ireland · UK · countable · uncountable
  2. Cloying sentimental speech.

    countable · uncountable
  3. Sweetheart (from treacle tart).

    Cockney · countable · slang · uncountable
    Listen, treacle, this is the last time I'll warn you!
  4. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote.

    countable · historical · uncountable
  5. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote. Synonym of cure: an all-powerful curative for some particular affliction.

    broadly · countable · figuratively · historical · obsolete · uncountable
  6. Synonym of theriac: an antidote for poison, especially snakebite; a supposedly universal antidote. Synonym of cure-all: a panacea for all human ailments.

    broadly · countable · figuratively · historical · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English triacle, partly from Old French triacle, and partly from Old English tyriaca, both from Late Latin *triaca, *tiriaca, late form of theriaca, ultimately from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”). Doublet of theriacle, equivalent to theriac + -le.

verb/ˈtɹiː.kəl/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈtɹiː.ku/New-Zealand/ˈtɹiː.kɯ/New-Zealand
  1. To apply treacle to a surface, so as to catch flies or moths, etc.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English triacle, partly from Old French triacle, and partly from Old English tyriaca, both from Late Latin *triaca, *tiriaca, late form of theriaca, ultimately from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”). Doublet of theriacle, equivalent to theriac + -le.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.