pastille a small confection of sugar syrup set with gelatin or starch, and flavoured with fruit essences or medicinal ingredients. The composition of modern pastilles is closely related to that of gums and jellies. The name is derived from the Latin pastilla (little cake), and has been applied to several kinds of small sweets. This includes, in the 16th century, fruit paste confections, much reduced by boiling, and in the 18th century little round lozenges made with powdered sugar and gum, similar to sugar paste; they often contained medicines, or were flavoured with aromatics.
