An ice pop is a liquid/cream-based frozen dessert on a stick. Unlike ice cream or sorbet, which are whipped while freezing to prevent ice crystal formation, an ice pop is frozen while at rest, becoming a solid block of ice with an icy texture. It is a fusion of flavored liquid, like juice or a sweetened water-based liquid. The stick is used as a handle to hold it. Without a stick, the frozen product would be a freezie. It can be calorie restricted, but commercial options usually contain added sugars, corn syrup and artificial ingredients.

An ice pop is also referred to as a popsicle (a generic trademark) in Canada and the United States, a paleta in Mexico, the Southwestern United States and parts of Latin America, an ice lolly, lollipop or lolly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, an ice block in New Zealand, an icy pole in Australia, an ice drop in the Philippines, an ice gola in India, ice candy in the Philippines, India and Japan, ai tim tang or ice cream tang in Thailand, and a kisko in the Caribbean.

As early as 1872, two men, doing business as Ross and Robbins, sold a frozen-fruit confection on a stick, which they called the Hokey-Pokey. Francis William "Frank" Epperson of Oakland, California, popularized ice pops after patenting the concept of "frozen ice on a stick" in 1923.

Epperson claimed to have first created an ice pop in 1905, at the age of 11, when he accidentally left a glass of powdered lemonade soda and water with a mixing stick in it on his porch during a cold night, a story still printed on the back of Popsicle treat boxes. Epperson lived in Oakland and worked as a lemonade salesman.

In 1922, Epperson, a realtor with Realty Syndicate Company in Oakland, introduced the Popsicle at a fireman's ball. The product got traction quickly; in 1923, at the age of 29, Epperson received a patent for his "Epsicle" ice pop, and by 1924, had patented all handled, frozen confections or ice lollipops. He officially debuted the Epsicle in seven fruit flavors at Neptune Beach amusement park, marketed as a "frozen lollipop", or a "drink on a stick". A couple of years later, Epperson sold the rights to the invention and the Popsicle brand to the Joe Lowe Company in New York City.

In the United States and Canada, frozen ice on a stick is frequently referred to as a popsicle due to the early popularity of the Popsicle brand, despite the fact that it is a registered trademark of Unilever and is not a genericized trademark. The word is a portmanteau of pop and icicle; the word is so common that there are decades-old derived slang meanings such as "popsicle stand". The term ice pop is also used in the United States.

In Ireland, the term ice pop is predominantly used. In the United Kingdom, the term ice lolly is used to refer to ice pop while the term ice pop refers to a freezie (flavoured ice inside a tube). The term chihiro is used as a slang term in the Cayman Islands, partially derived from chill. Different parts of Australia use either ice block or icy pole (which is a brand name), and New Zealand uses ice block. In the Philippines, the term ice drop is used with coconut flavor ice pops being called ice bukos. India uses the terms ice gola and ice candy. In Japan the term ice candy is used.

After a trip to the United States in the early 1940s, Ignacio Alcázar returned to his home city of Tocumbo, Michoacán, México, bringing the idea to manufacture ice pops or paletas (little sticks) using locally available fresh fruit. He and some family members expanded by opening a shop in Mexico City which became very popular and he began to franchise Paletería La Michoacana to friends and family from his town. The popularity of paletas and association with Tocumbo has increased to the status of a national Mexican food.