liquorice

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
liquorice /ˈlɪk(ə)rɪs, -rɪʃ/ (US licorice)

▶noun

• 1 a sweet, chewy, aromatic black substance made from the juice of a root and used as a sweet and in medicine.

• 2 a leguminous plant from which liquorice is obtained. [Genus Glycyrrhiza; many species.]

– origin ME: from OFr. licoresse, from late L. liquiritia, from Gk glukurrhiza, from glukus ‘sweet’ + rhiza ‘root’.