General term for sweet snacks and confections, including both Japanese and Western-style items. Often used with the honorific prefix お (お菓子) in polite or everyday speech.
Loanword from English 'sweets', often used for fashionable or Western-style desserts, especially in marketing.
Etymology
Compound of 菓 (ka, 'fruit' or 'confection') and 子 (shi, 'child' or 'small thing'). Originally referred to fruits and nuts served with tea, later extended to all kinds of sweets and confections.
