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arrack [arrack 词源字典]: arrack: [17] Arrack is an Asian alcoholic drink distilled from rice or molasses. The word comes ultimately from Arabic ‘araq ‘sweat, juice, liquor’, which was borrowed in a variety of forms into several Asiatic languages. The immediate source of English arrack seems to have been an Indian language.
[arrack etymology, arrack origin, 英语词源]
brandy: brandy: [17] English acquired the word for this distilled spirit from Dutch brandewijn, and at first altered and translated it minimally to brandewine. Soon however this became brandy wine, and by the mid-17th century the abbreviated brandy was in common use. The Dutch compound meant ‘distilled wine’, from branden, which denoted ‘distil’ as well as ‘burn’ (it was a derivative of brand ‘fire’, cognate with English brand).
=> brand
pot: pot: [OE] Pot was borrowed in the late Old English period from medieval Latin *pottus, which also produced French pot ‘pot’. This may have been an alteration of pōtus ‘drinking-cup’, which in classical Latin meant simply ‘drink’ (it was derived from the same stem as produced pōtiō ‘drink’, source of English poison and potion). Related or derived forms in English include porridge, potash, poteen [19] (etymologically spirits distilled in a ‘little pot’ – Irish poitín is a diminutive of pota ‘pot’), potpourri [18] (literally in French ‘rotten pot’), pottery [15], and putty.
=> porridge, potage, potash, poteen, pottage, putty
vodka: vodka: [19] Vodka denotes etymologically ‘little water’. The word was borrowed at the beginning of the 19th century from Russian vodka, which is a diminutive form of voda ‘water’. And voda came from the same Indo-European source (*wedōr, *wodōr) as produced English water. The euphemistic application of the term water to distilled spirits is also responsible for eau de vie and whisky, both of which mean literally ‘water of life’.
=> water
absinthe (n.): also absinth, alcoholic liqueur distilled from wine mixed with wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), 1842, from French absinthe, "essence of wormwood," from Latin absinthum "wormwood," from Greek apsinthion, perhaps from Persian (compare Persian aspand, of the same meaning). The plant so called in English from c. 1500 (Old English used the word in the Latin form).
amyl (n.): hydrocarbon radical, 1850, from Latin amylum, from Greek amylon "fine meal, starch," noun use of neuter of adjective amylos "not ground at the mill, ground by hand," from a-, privative prefix, "not" + myle "mill" (see mill (n.1)). So called because first obtained from the distilled spirits of potato or grain starch (though it also is obtained from other sources).
arrack (n.): c. 1600, probably picked up in India, ultimately from Arabic araq, literally "sweat, juice;" used of native liquors in Eastern countries, especially those distilled from fermented sap of coconut palm, sometimes from rice or molasses.
brandy (n.): 1650s, abbreviation of brandywine (1620s) from Dutch brandewijn "burnt wine," so called because it is distilled (compare German cognate Branntwein and Czech palenka "brandy," from paliti "to burn"). The Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania, site of a Revolutionary War battle, supposedly so named by the Dutch for the color of its waters.
cognac (n.): 1590s, Coniacke, "wine produced in Cognac," the region in western France. The sense of "brandy" is 1755, shortened from 17c. cognac brandy, which was distilled from cognac wine. The place name is from Medieval Latin Comniacum, from the personal name Cominius and the Gallo-Roman suffix -acum.
distill (v.): also distil, late 14c., from Old French distiller (14c.), from Latin distillare "trickle down in minute drops," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + stillare "to drip, drop," from stilla "drop." Related: Distilled; distilling.
essence (n.): late 14c., essencia (respelled late 15c. on French model), from Latin essentia "being, essence," abstract noun formed (to translate Greek ousia "being, essence") from essent-, present participle stem of esse "to be," from PIE *es- "to be" (cognates: Sanskrit asmi, Hittite eimi, Old Church Slavonic jesmi, Lithuanian esmi, Gothic imi, Old English eom "I am;" see be).

Originally "substance of the Trinity;" the general sense of "basic element of anything" is first recorded in English 1650s, though this is the underlying notion of the first English use of essential. Meaning "ingredient which gives something its particular character" is from c. 1600, especially of distilled oils from plants (1650s), hence "fragrance, perfume" (17c.). In 19c. U.S., essence-peddler could mean "medical salesman" and "skunk."
gin (n.1): type of distilled drinking alcohol, 1714, shortening of geneva, altered (by influence of the name of the Swiss city, with which it has no connection) from Dutch genever "gin," literally "juniper" (because the alcohol was flavored with its berries), from Old French genevre "the plant juniper" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *jeniperus, from Latin juniperus "juniper" (see juniper). Gin and tonic is attested by 1873; gin-sling by 1790; gin-fizz (with lemon juice and aerated water) is from 1878. Gin-mill, U.S. slang for "low-class tavern or saloon where spirits are drunk" (1872) might be a play on the senses from gin (n.2). British gin-palace "gaudily decorated tavern or saloon where spirits are drunk" is from 1831.

The card game gin rummy first attested 1941 (described in "Life" that year as the latest Hollywood fad); OED lists it with the entries for the liquor, but the sense connection seems obscure other than as a play on rummy.
grappa (n.): "brandy distilled from the residue of wine-making," 1893, from Italian grappa, literally "grapes" (see grape).
hooch (n.): also hootch, "cheap whiskey," 1897, shortened form of Hoochinoo (1877) "liquor made by Alaskan Indians," from the name of a native tribe in Alaska whose distilled liquor was a favorite with miners in 1898 Klondike gold rush; the tribe's name is said by OED to be from Tlingit Hutsnuwu, literally "grizzly bear fort."
As the supply of whisky was very limited, and the throats down which it was poured were innumerable, it was found necessary to create some sort of a supply to meet the demand. This concoction was known as "hooch"; and disgusting as it is, it is doubtful if it is much more poisonous than the whisky itself. [M.H.E. Hayne, "The Pioneers of the Klondyke," London, 1897]
kirschwasser (n.): "liquor distilled from fermented cherry juice," 1819, from German Kirschwasser, literally "cherry-water;" first element from Middle High German kirse, from Old High German kirsa, from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from Late Latin cerasium "cherry" (see cherry). For second element, see water (n.1).
liquor (n.): c. 1200, likur "any matter in a liquid state," from Old French licor "fluid, liquid; sap; oil" (Modern French liqueur), from Latin liquorem (nominative liquor) "liquidity, fluidity," also "a liquid, the sea," from liquere "be fluid, liquid" (see liquid (adj.)). Narrowed sense of "fermented or distilled drink" (especially wine) first recorded c. 1300. To liquor up "get drunk" is from 1845. The form in English has been assimilated to Latin, but the pronunciation has not changed.
McCoy: as in the real McCoy, 1881, said to be from Scottish the real Mackay (1883), of uncertain origin, though there are many candidates, including whiskey distilled by A. and M. Mackay of Glasgow (the phrase the real McCoy became popular during Prohibition to describe liquor); Charles S. "Kid" McCoy (1872-1940), former welterweight boxing champ; and a claimant for chief of the northern branch of the clan Mackay.
"By jingo! yes; so it will be. It's the 'real McCoy,' as Jim Hicks says. Nobody but a devil can find us there." [James S. Bond, "The Rise and Fall of the Union Club," Yorkville, Canada, 1881]
naphtha (n.): inflammable liquid distilled from petroleum, 1570s, from Latin, from Greek naphtha "bitumen," perhaps from Persian neft "pitch," or Aramaic naphta, nephta, but these could as well be from Greek. In Middle English as napte (late 14c.), from Old French napte, but the modern word is a re-introduction.
proof (n.): early 13c., preove "evidence to establish the fact of (something)," from Anglo-French preove, Old French prueve "proof, test, experience" (13c., Modern French preuve), from Late Latin proba "a proof," a back-formation from Latin probare "to prove" (see prove). "The devocalization of v to f ensued upon the loss of final e; cf. the relation of v and f in believe, belief, relieve, relief, behove, behoof, etc. [OED].

Meaning "act of proving" is early 14c. Meaning "act of testing or making trial of anything" is from late 14c., from influence of prove. Meaning "standard of strength of distilled liquor" is from 1705. In photography from 1855. Typographical sense of "trial impression to test type" is from c. 1600. Numismatic sense of "coin struck to test a die" is from 1762; now mostly in reference to coins struck from highly polished dies, mainly for collectors.

Adjectival sense (proof against) is recorded from 1590s, from the noun in expressions such as proof of (mid-15c.), hence extended senses involving "tested power" in compounds such as fireproof (1630s), waterproof (1725), foolproof (1902), etc. Shakespeare has shame-proof. Expression the proof is in the pudding (1915) is a curious perversion of earlier proof of the pudding is in the eating (1708), with proof in the sense "quality of proving good or turning out well" (17c.); perhaps an advertiser's condensed form of the original.
rum (n.): "liquor from sugar cane or molasses," 1650s, shortening of rumbullion (1651), rombostion (1652), of uncertain origin, perhaps from rum (adj.).
The chiefe fudling they make in the Island [i.e. Barbados] is Rumbullion alias Kill-Devill, and this is made of suggar cane distilled, a hott, hellish and terrible liquor. ["A briefe Description of the Island of Barbados," 1651]
The English word was borrowed into Dutch, German, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Russian. Used since 1800 in North America as a general (hostile) name for intoxicating liquors.
Rum I take to be the name which unwashed moralists apply alike to the product distilled from molasses and the noblest juices of the vineyard. Burgundy in "all its sunset glow" is rum. Champagne, soul of "the foaming grape of Eastern France," is rum. ... Sir, I repudiate the loathsome vulgarism as an insult to the first miracle wrought by the Founder of our religion! [Oliver Wendell Holmes, "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table," 1891]
taffy (n.): coarse candy made from sugar or molasses boiled down and cooled, 1817, related to toffee, but of uncertain origin; perhaps associated with tafia (1763), a rum-like alcoholic liquor distilled from molasses, presumably of West Indian or Malay origin (perhaps a Creole shortening of ratafia). On this theory, the candy would have been made from the syrup skimmed off the liquor during distillation.
tear (n.1): "fluid drop from the eye," Old English tear "tear, drop, nectar, what is distilled in drops," from earlier teahor, tæhher, from Proto-Germanic *tahr-, *tagr- (cognates: Old Norse, Old Frisian tar, Old High German zahar, German Zähre, Gothic tagr "tear"), from PIE *dakru- (cognates: Latin lacrima, Old Latin dacrima, Irish der, Welsh deigr, Greek dakryma). To be in tears "weeping" is from 1550s. Tear gas first recorded 1917.
toluene (n.): colorless liquid hydrocarbon, 1855, from German toluin (Berzelius, 1842), from Tolu, place in Colombia (now Santiago de Tolu) from which "balsam of Tolu" was obtained from the bark of certain trees, which were known in Europe by the name of the port. The chemical so called because it was first distilled (1841) from balsam of Tolu. The place name is of unknown origin.
kirsch: "Brandy distilled from the fermented juice of cherries", German, abbreviation of Kirschenwasser, from Kirsche 'cherry' + Wasser 'water'.
mao-tai: "A strong sorghum-based alcoholic drink distilled in SW China", Named after a town in SW China.