“Cherith” is a form of
sherry
/ˈʃɛɹi/ noun, proper noun
Forms sherries Sherrys Cheri Sheri Sherri
- noun (uncountable) A fortified wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, or a similar wine produced elsewhere.
- noun A variety of sherry. “They produce several quality sherries.”
- noun A glass of sherry. “Would you like a sherry?”
- proper noun A female given name from English, from the sherry wine, or a variant of Cheri.
- proper noun A surname.
Etymology
Back-formation of earlier sherris (interpreted as a plural), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres (“wine of Xeres”), Xeres being the former spelling of Spanish Jerez (pronounced /ʃeˈɾes/ in early modern Andalusian Spanish).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A Spanish light-colored dry wine, made in Andalusia. As prepared for commerce it is colored a straw color or a deep amber by mixing with it cheap wine boiled down. Sherry cobbler, a beverage prepared with sherry wine, water, lemon or orange, sugar, ice, etc., and usually imbided through a straw or a glass tube.
Etymology [So called from Xeres, a Spanish town near Cadiz, x in Spanish having been formerly pronounced like sh in English.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sherry”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details