From a recent-ish legal judgment in Oz:
<<It will be noted that we have called the respondent a "confectionery" wholesaler and the product "confectionary". According to the third edition of the Macquarie Dictionary, "confectionary" is "a confection or sweet", while "confectionery" means "confections or sweets collectively". The Oxford English Dictionary defines "confectionary" as "a confectionary preparation, a sweetmeat" and "confectionery" as "things made or sold by a confectioner; a collective name for sweetmeats and confections". Thus a single confection is "confectionary" and a variety of different sweets "confectionery". These definitions do not necessarily determine the choice of word in the present case, which involves many sweets, though all of the same type. However the examples of usage given in the Oxford English Dictionary throw some light on the matter. Thus in 1844 one sees - "ever and anon she insisted upon his taking some particular confectionary, because it was a favourite of hers". And in 1791 one finds - "he pressed her to partake of a variety of confectioneries". The contrast provided by these examples suggests that "confectionary" should be used when describing many sweets, all of which are the same. Hence the spelling we have adopted of "confectionery" and "confectionary".>>

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