firewater
noun
Forms firewaters
- noun (informal) High-proof alcoholic beverage, especially whiskey (especially in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans).
- noun (especially manufacturing) Water for use in firefighting.
- noun High-temperature hydraulic condensate discharged from industrial boilers.
- noun (obsolete) Synonym of alkahest.
Synonyms
adult beverage alcohol bevvy booze carouse drink fuddling grog hard drink libation liquor lush nightcap potation potent potable sauce shot strong drink strong water tiddly
Etymology
A calque of a Native American language term, probably Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo (“alcohol”), from ishkodew- (“fire”) + -aaboo (“liquid”, glossed in older works as “water”). A number of other Algonquian, Siouan and Athabaskan languages also refer to whiskey with compounds that mean "fire-water" (on which basis noted Algonquianist Leonard Bloomfield even reconstructed a Proto-Algonquian word for it, *eškwete·wa·po·wi, although this cannot have existed). The motivation of the name is not entirely clear: It may refer to the “burning” feeling of ingesting high-proof alcohol, or to its flammability; alternatively, it may refer to how low-quality spirits also often included ingredients such as pepper, which burned.
Non-alcohol-related senses are simply fire + water.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “firewater”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details