Dictionary

whisky en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwɪski/
• /ˈʍɪski/

Etymology

Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh (compare obsolete whiskybae), from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (“water of life”), calque of Medieval Latin aqua vitae. Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source.

Meanings

1. (Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, Scotland, alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable) Alternative form of whiskey, an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain, usually aged in oak barrels, (particularly) Scotch; a drink of this liquor.
   alt of whiskey
   • Thereafter the route of the original line was followed to the harbour, beyond which an extension, a third of a mile long, led to the salt pans and a newly constructed inn, the "Stafford Arms", where Lady Stafford tried unsuccessfully to educate the locals to drink beer instead of a strong whisky. 1960 January 14, Iain D. O. Frew, “The Brora Colliery Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 56:
   • That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

whisky seat · whisky tango foxtrot · malt whisky · whisky-jack · single malt whisky · whisky jack · hot whisky · whisky john · tim-whisky · sorghum whisky · whisky fungus · whisky butter · whisky-john · grain whisky · whiskytini

Synonyms

usquebaugh

whisky en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwɪski/
• /ˈʍɪski/

Etymology

Etymology tree English whisk Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English whisky From whisk + -y.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative, historical) Alternative form of whiskey (“a light gig or carriage”).
   alt of whiskey
   • At the appointed time Mr. Kettering’s one-horse chaise, or rather whisky, drove up to the door; for, as it was principally intended for him to visit his patients, when disinclined to mount his horse, it was built in the lightest manner, and without a head, that it might move with the greater expedition. 1797, Charlotte Lennox, chapter 4, in The History of Sir George Warrington, volume 1, London: J. Bell, page 46:
   • 1768, Ignatius Sancho, letter to Mr. M—, in Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, London: J. Nichols, 3rd edition, 1784, pp. 7-8, Look into old age, you will see avarice joined to poverty—letchery, gout, impotency, like three monkeys, or London bucks, in a one-horse whisky, driving to the Devil.

Forms

Deriveds

tim-whisky