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Week one hundred: QUIDDANY (probability 33665), by David Sutton

QUIDDANY is a jelly or thick syrup made from quince-juice and sugar. The name sounds as if it has to do with words like QUIDAM, QUIDDITY and QUIDNUNC that derive from the Latin 'quid', but in fact it comes from the Latin cotonea, meaning quince, that also gives us COTONEASTER.

There are one or two other exotic words for jam or jelly-like things to spread on one's bread. KONFYT is a preserve of fruit, in syrup or candied, from the Afrikaans word for jam, and this can be extended to MOSKONFYT, which is specifically made from grapes, 'mos' being the Afrikaans for must or grape juice. And then there is BARLEDUC, a kind of gooseberry jam, which takes its name from the town of Bar Le Duc in Lorraine.

And it is worth noting that one cannot play MARMITE as the name of the spread, because it is a capitalised trade-name, but one can play it as a French word for a metal or earthenware pot without feet. Similarly one cannot play VEGEMITE as the name of the vegetable extract, but it becomes allowable as a colloquial word for a child.

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