Turkish Word in English: Sherbet

The English word SHERBET began its life in English as zerbet, from Turkish serbet, a drink made from sweetened fruit juice cooled with snow. The Turkish word in turn came from Persian sharbat and Arabic sharba, meaning a "drink," from the verb shariba, "drink."

In British English, "sherbet powder" is a fizzy powder sweet which can be eaten on its own or used to make a fizzy drink. You can read about the many varieties of sherbet powders in this Wikipedia article. In the world of Harry Potter, Dumbledore is very fond of "sherbet lemons," although in the U.S. version of the book, the text is changed to "lemon drops."

In the U.S., a sherbet (often pronounced "sherbert") is a frozen dessert like a sorbet, but with a small amount of milkfat. You can find a recipe for strawberry sherbet at the Eat-Drink-Love.com website.