Comfit

From the French word confiture, or “preserve,” the word originally designated any small food item preserved with sugar, such as crystallized flower petals or herb leaves (like candied roses, violets, or mint); candy-coated seeds, spices, or nuts (like candied anise seeds or Jordan almonds); or citrus peels, plant stalks, or roots (like candied lemon peel, angelica, or ginger). By the seventeenth century, the meaning of “comfit” had narrowed so that it designated only articles coated in a smooth or rough hard candy shell, that is, dragées (which see, below).