firewater
English edit
Etymology edit
A calque of a Native American language term, probably Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo (“alcohol”), from ishkodew- (“fire”) + -aaboo (“liquid”, glossed in older works as “water”). A number of other Algonquian and Siouan languages also refer to whiskey with compounds that mean "fire-water" (on which basis noted Algonquianist Leonard Bloomfield even reconstructed a Proto-Algonquian word for it, *eškwete·wa·po·wi, although this could not have existed). The motivation of the name is not entirely clear: It may refer to the “burning” feeling of ingesting high-proof alcohol. Low-quality spirits also often included ingredients such as pepper, tobacco juice, molasses, etc. Alternatively it may refer to the flammability of alcohol.
Non-alcohol-related senses are simply fire + water.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (US) (file)
Noun edit
firewater (countable and uncountable, plural firewaters)
- (informal) High-proof alcohol, especially whiskey (especially in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans).
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage
- 2012 November 15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Guardian[2]:
- Four polite Englishmen in their middle 20s, feigning like firewater drunks in a Eugene O'Neill play: it's exactly the stuff that makes their detractors groan.
- High-temperature hydraulic condensate discharged from industrial boilers.
- (manufacturing) Water for use in firefighting.
- 1981, Energy Progress[3], page 205:
- A continuously circulated firewater line supplies a deluge cooling system in each gathering center for fire containment.
- 2015 March 18, Karen Caffarini, “Cause of line break unknown at BP”, in Post-Tribune[4]:
- A break in a firewater line at BP Whiting Refinery caused water with an oil-like sheen to spread outside the refinery's walls along a section of Indianapolis Boulevard Tuesday night.
Translations edit
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