Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A drink made of sweetened milk or cream curdled with wine or spirits.
  • noun A cold dessert made with sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and beaten with wine, spirits, or fruit juice.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as sillibub.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Same as syllabub.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A drink dating back to the 16th century in various forms, comprising 1 part sherry to 3 parts milk, with nutmeg and optionally brandy. Served topped with clotted cream and sugar, and sprinkled with cinnamon or more nutmeg. (Reference: Australian Colonial Cookery, Richard Daunton-Fear and Penelope Vigar, Rigby, 1977, ISBN 0-7270-0189-6, page 59.)
  • noun A 19th century dessert derived from the drink, comprising a wineglass of sherry, 1/2 pint of cream, 4 ounces of sugar, grated lemon rind, and sometimes gelatine to set firm. (Reference: ditto Australian Colonial Cookery.)

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun spiced hot milk with rum or wine
  • noun sweetened cream beaten with wine or liquor

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

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Examples

  • It has always struck me as self-evident that the English word syllabub

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VI No 1 1979

  • Oliver Owen Sussex, England READER'S QUERY H.re's one answer to Peter H. Marsden's query about the origin of the word syllabub [VI, 1].

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VI No 3 1984

  • Breeze, and subsequently when removed to the old Kraaken line -- of -- battle ship, both of which were constantly part of blockading squadrons, could be compared to nothing more fitly than a dish of trifle, anciently called syllabub, with a stray plum here and there scattered at the bottom.

    Tom Cringle's Log Michael Scott 1812

  • I was being initiated into the mystic sweets of "syllabub," a Southern concoction of which my sober Scotch folks had never heard.

    St. Cuthbert's Robert E. Knowles

  • Oh, Diana is so vexed -- her syllabub was a failure, the Assembly is mined and she does not know what she has ever done to be inflicted with such a tiresome brother! "

    Sanditon 1817

  • Helen Saberi tops her trifle with a magnificent syllabub, made from a mixture of lemon zest and juice, sugar, white wine and orange flower water and double cream.

    How to make perfect trifle 2011

  • At my urging, she spooned a small portion of the syllabub into her mouth.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • At my urging, she spooned a small portion of the syllabub into her mouth.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • At my urging, she spooned a small portion of the syllabub into her mouth.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

  • At my urging, she spooned a small portion of the syllabub into her mouth.

    Secrets of the Tudor Court Kate Emerson 2010

Comments

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  • I always wonder why one would have a course description for dessert. ;-) Obviously, I have the misfortune to come from a syllabub-less culture.

    July 12, 2007

  • Calico Jam,

    The little Fish swam

    Over the syllabub sea,

    He took off his hat

    To the Sole and the Sprat,

    And the Willeby-wat, -

    But he never came back to me!

    He never came back!

    He never came back!

    He never come back to me!

    - Edward Lear, 'Calico Pie'.

    April 12, 2009

  • also sillibub

    October 28, 2009

  • My money is on the Persian, Arabic, & Ottoman Turkish--

    salep/salab (a powdered orchid-tuber starch) + ab ( the Persian for "water")

    See the article on the Middle Eastern drink made from Orchis mascula

    http://hollychase.com/orchid-aphrodisiac/

    holly ( at) hollychase (dot) com

    February 12, 2010