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Origin and history of liquor

liquor(n.)

c. 1200, likur "any matter in a liquid state, a liquid or fluid substance," from Old French licor "fluid, liquid; sap; oil" (12c., Modern French liqueur), from Latin liquorem (nominative liquor) "a liquid, liquor; wine; the sea," originally "liquidity, fluidity," from liquere "be fluid, liquid" (see liquid (adj.)).

Narrowed sense of "fermented or distilled drink" (especially wine) first recorded c. 1300; the broader sense seems to have been obsolete from c. 1700. As long as liquor is in him was a Middle English expression, "as long as he is alive," that is, "as long as he has a drop of blood left." The form in Modern English has been assimilated to Latin, but the old pronunciation persists.

liquor(v.)

c. 1500, "to moisten," from liquor (n.). From 1550s as "supply with liquor," 1839 as "drink" (intoxicating liquor). To liquor up "get drunk" is from 1845. Related: Liquored; liquoring.

also from c. 1500

Entries linking to liquor

liquid(adj.)

late 14c., "flowing, capable of flowing; neither solid nor gaseous," from Old French liquide "liquid, running" (13c.), from Latin liquidus "fluid, liquid, moist," figuratively "flowing, continuing," also of sounds and voices, from liquere "be fluid," related to liqui "to melt, flow," from PIE *wleik- "to flow, run."

In English, of sounds from 1630s. Financial sense of "capable of being converted to cash" is first recorded 1818, from earlier use in Scots Law (17c.) in reference to debts that had been proved (in court, etc.).

liqueur(n.)

"sweetened, flavored alcoholic liquor," 1729, from French liqueur "liquor, liquid," from Old French licor "liquid." See liquor, which is the same word but borrowed earlier.

pot-liquor(n.)

"liquid in which meat has been boiled," 1744, from pot (n.1) + liquor (n.).

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    booze
    "alcoholic drink," by 1570s, also bouze (in poetry rhyming with carouse), also as a verb, probably a variant of Middle English bous "intoxicating drink," (mid-14c.), which is from Middle Dutch buse "drinking vessel" (also as a verb, busen "to drink heavily"), which is related to
    ale
    "intoxicating liquor made by malt fermentation," Old English ealu "ale, beer," from Proto-Germanic *aluth- (source also of...In the fifteenth century, and until the seventeenth, ale stood for the unhopped fermented malt liquor which had long been...Beer was the hopped malt liquor introduced from the Low Countries in the fifteenth century and popular first of all in the...By the eighteenth century, however, all malt liquor was hopped and there had been a silent mutation in the meaning of the...
    taffy
    and cooled, 1817, related to toffee, but of uncertain origin; perhaps associated with tafia (1763), a rum-like alcoholic liquor...On this theory, the candy would have been made from the syrup skimmed off the liquor during distillation....
    dram
    The fluid dram is one-eighth of a fluid ounce, hence "a small drink of liquor" (1713)....Hence dram shop (1725), where liquor was sold by the shot....
    hat trick
    The term was used earlier for a different sort of magic trick: Place a glass of liquor on the table, put a hat over it,...and say, "I will engage to drink every drop of that liquor, and yet I'll not touch the hat."...then get under the table; and after giving three knocks, you make a noise with your mouth, as if you were swallowing the liquor...Some one, eager to see if you have drunk the liquor, will raise the hat; when you instantly take the glass and swallow the...
    snifter
    1844, "a small drink of liquor, a 'nip,' " from a Scottish and northern English survival of an obsolete verb snifter "to...The association of "drinking liquor" with words for "inhaling, snuffling" (such as snort (n.), snootful) is perhaps from...
    cider
    (in a biblical context), "strong liquor;" mid-14c., "liquor made from the juice of fruits," from Old French cidre, cire "...
    mescal
    "plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., especially the American aloe, or maguey plant, 1702, from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) mexcalli "fermented drink made from agave," from metl "agave" + ixcalli "stew." Meaning "intoxicating li
    whiskey
    1715, from Gaelic uisge beatha "whisky," literally "water of life," from Old Irish uisce "water" (from PIE *ud-skio-, suffixed form of root *wed- (1) "water; wet") + bethu "life" (from PIE *gwi-wo-tut-, suffixed form of *gwi-wo-, from root *gwei- "to live"). According to Barnhart
    stock
    Middle English stok, from Old English stocc "stump, wooden post, stake; trunk of a living tree; log," also "pillory" (usually plural, stocks), from Proto-Germanic *stauk- "tree trunk" (source also of Old Norse stokkr "block of wood, trunk of a tree," Old Saxon, Old Frisian stok,

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