toffee

See also: Toffee

English

Alternative forms

• taffy (see usage notes)
• toffy

Etymology

An alteration of taffy.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒfi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) enPR: täʹfē, IPA^(key): /ˈtɔfi/, (cot–caught merger) /ˈtɑfi/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔfe/, /-fɪ/, /-fi/
• Rhymes: -ɒfi

Noun

toffee (countable and uncountable, plural toffees)

1. (uncountable) A type of chewy confectionery made by boiling sugar (or treacle, etc) with butter or milk, then cooling the mixture so that it becomes hard.
2. (countable) A small, individual piece of toffee.
   • 1960 June, “A Railway Toffee Tin”, in Railway Magazine, page 398:

     The tin is 6½ in. high and 4 in. in diameter, and has a domed snap-on lid with knob; it will hold 1 lb. of toffees.

3. (Northern England) Any kind of sweets; candy.
4. (UK, uncountable, slang) Nonsense; rubbish.

   What a load of old toffee!

Usage notes

• Unlike taffy, which is a soft candy, toffee is a hard candy.

Derived terms

• banoffee
• banoffee pie
• bonfire toffee
• cinder toffee
• easy as toffee
• English toffee
• for toffee
• honeycomb toffee
• maple toffee
• sponge toffee
• sticky toffee pudding
• toffee apple
• toffee-brown
• toffee-colored, toffee-coloured
• toffee hammer
• toffeeish
• toffeelike
• Toffeeman
• toffee-nose
• toffee-nosed
• toffee paper
• toffee penny

Descendants

• → Cantonese: 拖肥 (to¹ fei^4-2)

Translations

uncountable: type of confectionery

• Albanian: karamele me gjalpë, sheqerkë (sq) f
• Arabic:

  Hijazi Arabic: توفي m (tōfi, tūfi)

• Azerbaijani: iris
• Bengali: টফি (bn) f (ṭophi)
• Bulgarian: карамел лакта f (karamel lakta), лакта f (lakta)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奶糖 (nǎi táng), 乳脂軟糖 / 乳脂软糖 (zh) (rǔzhī ruǎntáng)

• Czech: karamela (cs) f
• Danish: flødekaramel c
• Dutch: toffee (nl) m
• Finnish: toffee (fi)
• French: caramel (fr)
• German: Toffee m, Karamelle (de) f
• Gujarati: ટોફી f (ṭophī)
• Hindi: टॉफ़ी f (ṭŏfī), टॉफी f (ṭŏphī)
• Irish: taifí m
• Italian: caramella mou f
• Japanese: タフィー (tafī), ファッジ (fajji)
• Kannada: ಟಾಫೀ (ṭāphī)
• Malay: gula-gula (ms)
• Māori: towhi, tawhe, tawhi
• Marathi: टॉफी f (ṭŏphī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: karamell (no) m

  Nynorsk: karamell m

• Persian: تافی (fa) (tâfi)
• Polish: toffi (pl) n
• Portuguese: caramelo (pt) m
• Romanian: caramelă (ro) f
• Russian: ири́с (ru) m (irís)
• Serbo-Croatian: karamela (sh) f
• Spanish: caramelo (es) m
• Swedish: kola (sv) c, gräddkola (sv)
• Tagalog: topi (tl)
• Tamil: மூலம் வரும் இனிப்பு வகை (mūlam varum iṉippu vakai)
• Telugu: చేసిన మిఠాయి (cēsina miṭhāyi)
• Thai: ทอฟฟี (tɔ́p-fîi)
• Turkish: şekerleme (tr)
• Ukrainian: іри́с m (irýs)
• Uzbek: iris qand
• Vietnamese: kẹo bơ cứng
• Welsh: cyflaith m, taffi m, toffi m
• Yiddish: איריס (iris)

countable: individual piece of toffee

• Bulgarian: бонбон лакта m (bonbon lakta)
• Danish: flødekaramel c
• Finnish: toffee (fi)
• French: caramel (fr)
• Hindi: टॉफ़ी f (ṭŏfī), टॉफी f (ṭŏphī)
• Marathi: टॉफी f (ṭŏphī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: karamell (no) m

  Nynorsk: karamell m

• Russian: ири́ска (ru) f (iríska)
• Swedish: kola (sv), karamell (sv)
• Thai: ทอฟฟี (tɔ́p-fîi)
• Yiddish: איריסקע (iriske), איריס (iris)

See also

• butterscotch
• caramel
• fudge

References

• (nonsense, rubbish): Tony Thorne (2014), “toffee”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London;  […]: Bloomsbury

Verb

toffee (third-person singular simple present toffees, present participle toffeeing, simple past and past participle toffeed)

1. (transitive) To coat in toffee.
   • 1971, The Economist - Volume 239, page 74:

     The plant will close and three-quarters of Britain's apple toffeeing capacity will lie idle.

   • 2012, Elizabeth Lowry, The Bellini Madonna:

     But all the eating up of shoo-fly pie, and the cooking up of gauzy cumuli of pink candy, and the toffeeing of crab apples, couldn't hide the fact that we were winter-bound.

   • 2015, Tony Weston, Making a Name, page 93:

     The fire had claimed three of Mr. Barry's barns and the wine presses and the oak fermentation vessels were blackened and sprung, the wine-sugars toffeeing the floor.

Anagrams

• tee off

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from English toffee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtofːeː/, [ˈt̪o̞fːe̞ː]
• IPA^(key): /ˈtofːiː/, [ˈt̪o̞fːiː]
• Rhymes: -ofːeː
• Syllabification^(key): tof‧fee
• Hyphenation^(key): tof‧fee

Noun

toffee

1. toffee

Declension

Inflection of toffee (Kotus type 20/filee, no gradation)
nominative		toffee	toffeet
genitive		toffeen	toffeiden toffeitten
partitive		toffeeta	toffeita
illative		toffeehen toffeeseen	toffeihin toffeisiin
		singular	plural
nominative		toffee	toffeet
accusative	nom.	toffee	toffeet
	gen.	toffeen
genitive		toffeen	toffeiden toffeitten
partitive		toffeeta	toffeita
inessive		toffeessa	toffeissa
elative		toffeesta	toffeista
illative		toffeehen toffeeseen	toffeihin toffeisiin
adessive		toffeella	toffeilla
ablative		toffeelta	toffeilta
allative		toffeelle	toffeille
essive		toffeena	toffeina
translative		toffeeksi	toffeiksi
abessive		toffeetta	toffeitta
instructive		—	toffein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of toffee (Kotus type 20/filee, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative toffeeni toffeeni accusative nom. toffeeni toffeeni gen. toffeeni genitive toffeeni toffeideni toffeitteni partitive toffeetani toffeitani inessive toffeessani toffeissani elative toffeestani toffeistani illative toffeeheni toffeeseeni toffeihini toffeisiini adessive toffeellani toffeillani ablative toffeeltani toffeiltani allative toffeelleni toffeilleni essive toffeenani toffeinani translative toffeekseni toffeikseni abessive toffeettani toffeittani instructive — — comitative — toffeineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative toffeesi toffeesi accusative nom. toffeesi toffeesi gen. toffeesi genitive toffeesi toffeidesi toffeittesi partitive toffeetasi toffeitasi inessive toffeessasi toffeissasi elative toffeestasi toffeistasi illative toffeehesi toffeeseesi toffeihisi toffeisiisi adessive toffeellasi toffeillasi ablative toffeeltasi toffeiltasi allative toffeellesi toffeillesi essive toffeenasi toffeinasi translative toffeeksesi toffeiksesi abessive toffeettasi toffeittasi instructive — — comitative — toffeinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative toffeemme toffeemme accusative nom. toffeemme toffeemme gen. toffeemme genitive toffeemme toffeidemme toffeittemme partitive toffeetamme toffeitamme inessive toffeessamme toffeissamme elative toffeestamme toffeistamme illative toffeehemme toffeeseemme toffeihimme toffeisiimme adessive toffeellamme toffeillamme ablative toffeeltamme toffeiltamme allative toffeellemme toffeillemme essive toffeenamme toffeinamme translative toffeeksemme toffeiksemme abessive toffeettamme toffeittamme instructive — — comitative — toffeinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative toffeenne toffeenne accusative nom. toffeenne toffeenne gen. toffeenne genitive toffeenne toffeidenne toffeittenne partitive toffeetanne toffeitanne inessive toffeessanne toffeissanne elative toffeestanne toffeistanne illative toffeehenne toffeeseenne toffeihinne toffeisiinne adessive toffeellanne toffeillanne ablative toffeeltanne toffeiltanne allative toffeellenne toffeillenne essive toffeenanne toffeinanne translative toffeeksenne toffeiksenne abessive toffeettanne toffeittanne instructive — — comitative — toffeinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative toffeensa toffeensa accusative nom. toffeensa toffeensa gen. toffeensa genitive toffeensa toffeidensa toffeittensa partitive toffeetaan toffeetansa toffeitaan toffeitansa inessive toffeessaan toffeessansa toffeissaan toffeissansa elative toffeestaan toffeestansa toffeistaan toffeistansa illative toffeehensa toffeeseensa toffeihinsa toffeisiinsa adessive toffeellaan toffeellansa toffeillaan toffeillansa ablative toffeeltaan toffeeltansa toffeiltaan toffeiltansa allative toffeelleen toffeellensa toffeilleen toffeillensa essive toffeenaan toffeenansa toffeinaan toffeinansa translative toffeekseen toffeeksensa toffeikseen toffeiksensa abessive toffeettaan toffeettansa toffeittaan toffeittansa instructive — — comitative — toffeineen toffeinensa

Derived terms

• toffeinen

compounds

• kermatoffee
• toffeekarkki
• toffeekastike
• toffeeomena
• toffeetäyte

See also

• kinuski
• fudge

Further reading

• “toffee”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023