whiskey
Translingual edit
Noun edit
whiskey
- Alternative letter-case form of Whiskey of the ICAO/NATO radiotelephony alphabet.
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ˈwɪski/
- (without the wine–whine merger) IPA(key): /ˈʍɪski/
- Rhymes: -ɪski
- Hyphenation: whis‧key
Audio (US) (file)
Etymology 1 edit
Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh, from Irish uisce beatha, calque of Medieval Latin aqua vītae (“water of life”). Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source and vodka from a Russian diminutive for water in reference to the dilution of pure grain spirits.
Noun edit
whiskey (countable and uncountable, plural whiskeys or whiskies)
- (Ireland, US, England) A liquor distilled from the fermented mash of grain (as rye, corn, or barley).
- 1753, “Historical Chronicle”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, volume XXIII, page 391:
- The exceſſive drinking of ſpirituous liquours, eſpecially whiſkey, is now become ſo common, that more people are killed by them, than by ſmall-pox, fevers, broken limbs, accidents, and all other diſtempers put together. And we are credibly informed, that in one dram ſhop only in this town, there are 120 gallons of that accurſed ſpirit, whiſkey, ſold.
- (Ireland, US, England) A drink of whiskey.
- (international standards) Alternative letter-case form of Whiskey from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
Usage notes edit
The regional spellings whiskey and whisky (from the Scottish Gaelic form of the same Gaelic word) are used world-wide to distinguish regional drinks, for example bourbon whiskey but Scotch whisky.
Alternative forms edit
- whisky (Scotland, Canada, Australia)
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Translations edit
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Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
whiskey (plural whiskeys)
- (historical) A light gig or carriage drawn by one horse.
- 1772, George Alexander Stevens, “The Portrait”, in Songs, Comic, and Satyrical[1], Oxford, page 202:
- Ye Ladies of Lapland who beesoms bestride,
Or, pair’d in Witch Whiskeys, aslant the Moon slide;
Alternative forms edit
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from English whiskey.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
whiskey m (plural whiskeys, diminutive whiskeytje n)
- (a glass of) whiskey
French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from English whisky, whiskey, from Irish uisce beatha, Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (literally “water of life”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
whiskey m (plural whiskeys)
- whiskey (drink)
Further reading edit
- “whiskey”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Portuguese edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
whiskey m (plural whiskeys)
- Alternative form of uísque
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from English whiskey.
Noun edit
whiskey m (plural whiskeys or whiskey)
- Alternative spelling of whisky
Usage notes edit
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.