'sugar-based' originates from English, specifically the words 'sugar' and 'based'. 'sugar' ultimately comes from Arabic 'sukkar' (via Medieval Latin and Old French), where the earlier Sanskrit word 'śarkarā' meant 'grit, sugar'. 'based' is formed from the noun 'base' plus the adjective-forming suffix '-ed', where 'base' comes from Old French 'base' (from Late Latin/Greek roots) meaning 'foundation' or 'bottom'.

'sugar' changed from Sanskrit 'śarkarā' to Arabic 'sukkar', then to Medieval Latin 'succarum' and Old French 'sucre', and eventually entered Middle English as 'sugre'/'sugar'. 'base' came from Greek 'basis' through Late Latin and Old French into English as 'base'; the adjective-forming '-ed' created 'based', and Modern English combined 'sugar' + 'based' into the compound 'sugar-based'.

Initially, 'sugar' referred specifically to the crystalline sweet substance and 'base' to a foundation; over time the compound 'sugar-based' came to mean 'having sugar as the principal ingredient or basis' in modern usage.