τσίπουρο

Greek

τσίπουρο

Etymology

Uncertain. Has been claimed to have been borrowed from Ottoman Turkish جبره (cibre, “grape pomace”),^[1]^[2] although according to different sources the borrowing occurred the other way round.^[3]

Alternatively, a relation to Ancient Greek σίκερα n (síkera, “a strong fermented drink”), which is from Biblical Hebrew שֵׁכָר m (šēḵār, “alcoholic drink”), has also been suggested.^[4]

Unrelated to the superficially similar τσιπούρα f (tsipoúra, “gilt-head bream, Sparus aurata”).^[5]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈt͡si.pu.ɾo/
Hyphenation: τσί‧που‧ρο

Noun

τσίπουρο • (tsípouro) n (plural τσίπουρα)

tsipouro (an alcoholic spirit made from the distillation of grape pomace, sometimes flavoured with aniseed or other herbs)

Declension

Declension of τσίπουρο

	singular	plural
nominative	τσίπουρο •	τσίπουρα •
genitive	τσίπουρου •	τσίπουρων •
accusative	τσίπουρο •	τσίπουρα •
vocative	τσίπουρο •	τσίπουρα •

Synonyms

ρακή f (rakí), ρακί n (rakí)
στεμφυλόπνευμα n (stemfylópnevma)
(Cretan) τσικουδιά f (tsikoudiá)
(Cypriot) ζιβανία f (zivanía)
(Western and Central Macedonian) γράπα f (grápa)
(Chiot) σούμα f (soúma)

Derived terms

τσίπουρα n pl (tsípoura, “grape pomace, mace”) (metonymically)
τσιπουράδικο n (tsipourádiko, “an establishment selling tsipouro”)
τσιπουράκι n (tsipouráki, “a small amount of tsipouro”) (diminutive)
τσιπουροκατάνυξη f (tsipourokatányxi, “group consumption of a large amount of tsipouro”)
τσιπουρομεζές n (tsipouromezés, “meze served with tsipouro”)

References

^ τσίπουρο, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “cibre”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
^ “cibre”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
^ “τσίπουρο”, in LSJ Online Greek Monolingual Dictionary, 2019 January 14, retrieved 2024-04-08
^ τσιπούρα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language