Gud in English: jaggery. What gur, shakkar, bheli and khand are called
Gud, or gur, is jaggery in English. The English names for shakkar, bheli, raab, khand, bura and mishri, and where the odd word jaggery came from.
In short: Gud (गुड़), also spelled gur, is called jaggery in English. Gud powder or shakkar is jaggery powder. A bheli is a block or lump of jaggery. In trade and science the same food is called non-centrifugal sugar.
Hindi to English, word by word
| Hindi | Said as | In English |
|---|---|---|
| गुड़ | gud, gur | Jaggery |
| गुड़ पाउडर, शक्कर | gud powder, shakkar | Jaggery powder, or powdered jaggery |
| भेली | bheli | A block or lump of jaggery |
| देसी गुड़ | desi gud | Traditional (country) jaggery |
| गन्ने का गुड़ | ganne ka gud | Sugarcane jaggery |
| राब | raab | Liquid jaggery, cane syrup |
| खांड | khand | Khandsari, a partly refined cane sugar |
| बूरा | bura | Fine powdered sugar |
| मिश्री | mishri | Rock sugar, rock candy |
| चीनी | chini | White sugar |
| गन्ना | ganna | Sugarcane |
| कोल्हू | kolhu | Cane crusher; a jaggery-making unit |
Why it is spelled both gud and gur
The Hindi word ends in ड़, a flapped sound made by flicking the tongue against the roof of the mouth. English has no letter for it, so writers reach for the nearest one. Some hear a d and write gud. Some hear an r and write gur. Gurh and goor are attempts at the same thing. They are all one word and one food.
Is shakkar jaggery or sugar?
Both, depending on where you stand. In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, shakkar is powdered jaggery, brown and unrefined. In central and western India the same word means white sugar, and that is how Hindi dictionaries define it. The difference between all of these sweeteners is set out in gur, shakkar, khand, bura, mishri and sugar.
Where the word jaggery came from
From Kerala, by way of Portugal. Merriam-Webster gives the origin as the Portuguese jágara, probably from the Malayalam chakkara, and the first known use in English as 1631. The Malayalam word goes back to the Sanskrit sharkara, the same root that gave English the word sugar. So jaggery and sugar are cousins twice over: in the cane, and in the dictionary.
The same word in other Indian languages
- Jaggery in Hindi: गुड़ (gud or gur)
- Jaggery in Punjabi: ਗੁੜ (gur)
- Jaggery in Urdu: گڑ (gur)
- Jaggery in Marathi: गूळ (gul)
- Jaggery in Gujarati: ગોળ (gol)
- Jaggery in Bengali: গুড় (gur)
- Jaggery in Odia: ଗୁଡ଼ (guda)
- Jaggery in Assamese: গুৰ (gur)
- Jaggery in Tamil: வெல்லம் (vellam)
- Jaggery in Telugu: బెల్లం (bellam)
- Jaggery in Kannada: ಬೆಲ್ಲ (bella)
- Jaggery in Malayalam: ശർക്കര (sharkara)
Questions people ask
- What is gud called in English?
- Jaggery. Gud, gur and gurh are spellings of the same Hindi word, गुड़.
- What is gur called in English?
- Jaggery. Gur and gud are the same word.
- What is shakkar called in English?
- In north India shakkar is jaggery powder. In central and western India shakkar means sugar.
- What is desi gud in English?
- Traditional or country jaggery: gur made in a village kolhu in open pans, as distinct from a factory product.
- What is bheli in English?
- A block or large lump of jaggery.
- What is the meaning of jaggery in Hindi?
- गुड़ (gud). Jaggery powder is गुड़ पाउडर or शक्कर.