: unrefined or raw sugar obtained from the juice of the sugarcane by evaporation and draining off the molasses
Word History
Etymology
Spanish or Portuguese; Spanish (azúcar) mascabado, from Portuguese (açúcar) mascavado, from açúcar sugar + mascavado, past participle of mascavar to adulterate, separate raw sugar (from molasses), from (assumed) Vulgar Latin minuscapare, from Latin minus less + caput head