zythum en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈzaɪθəm/
Etymology
From Latin zȳthum, from Ancient Greek ζῦθος (zûthos).
Meanings
-
(historical, uncountable) An unfermented kind of Egyptian malt beer.
Cartwright looked up from the Chamber’s^([sic]) Encyclopaedia […] One day he would get right to the end, to zythum. Not that he needed to. He had already peeped ahead and seen that it was a kind of ancient Egyptian beer, much recommended by Diodorus Siculus – whoever he was.
1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, pages 14–15: