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bonbon

[bon-bon; French bawn-bawn]
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noun, plural bon·bons [bon-bonz; French bawn-bawn] /ˈbɒnˌbɒnz; French bɔ̃ˈbɔ̃/.
  1. a fondant, fruit, or nut center dipped in fondant or chocolate; a chocolate.
  2. a piece of confectionery; candy.
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Origin of bonbon

1790–1800; < French: literally, good-good; a repetitive compound, orig. nursery word
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

sweetcreamdaintyconfetticaramel

Examples from the Web for bonbon

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • If you ask it for pain-killer it will not give you a bonbon.

  • A set of Shakespeare from the Leonard twins, a bonbon dish from Vera.

    Tabitha at Ivy Hall

    Ruth Alberta Brown

  • Capt. Wainwright had been toying with a tin whistle which he had pulled from a bonbon.

    With the Battle Fleet

    Franklin Matthews

  • "Now I think we may go back," said Hildegarde, after her third bonbon.

    Hildegarde's Home

    Laura E. Richards

  • The bonbon dishes and all the glasses were of Venetian and Bohemian glass.

British Dictionary definitions for bonbon

bonbon

noun
  1. a sweet
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Word Origin

C19: from French, originally a children's word from bon good
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bonbon

n.

1796, from French bonbon (17c.), childish reduplication of bon "good." Hence, bonbonniere (1818) "a box for sweets."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper