A type of small pear or a confection/candy flavored with anise or fennel, especially from France.
From French fenouillette, the diminutive form of fenouillet, which comes from fenouil (fennel). The double diminutive emphasizes smallness and delicacy.
Like many French culinary terms, 'fenouillette' is wonderfully specific—it doesn't just mean 'fennel-flavored thing' but carries centuries of confectionery tradition. These candies were luxury items in medieval courts, and the name itself became a marker of sophisticated continental taste.
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