liquor

See also: liqueur

English

Alternative forms

• liquour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English licour, from Anglo-Norman licour, from Latin liquor (“fluidity, liquidness, a fluid, a liquid”), from liquere (“to be fluid or liquid”); see liquid. Doublet of liqueur.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪk.ə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪk.ɚ/
• Homophone: licker
• Rhymes: -ɪkə(ɹ)

Noun

liquor (countable and uncountable, plural liquors)

1. (obsolete) A liquid, a fluid.
   • 1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia:

     Thus Water also, or any other Liquor, included in a convenient vessel, by being warmed, manifestly expands it self with a very great violence […]

   • 1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 1:

     Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky
     I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry,
     "Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
     Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry."

2. (obsolete) A drinkable liquid.
3. A liquid obtained by cooking meat or vegetables (or both).

   Synonyms: stock, (American English) pot liquor, broth, bouillon

4. (UK, cooking) A parsley sauce commonly served with traditional pies and mash.
5. (chiefly US, Canada, Australia) Strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation; more broadly, any alcoholic drink.

   Synonyms: (British and Australasian English) spirits, hard liquor, hard drink, strong drink, aqua vitae, water of life

   • 1879, Chas. McArmor, The New Handbook of Vienna […] ‎^[1], 2nd edition, Otto Maass, page 106:

     Here the proprietor has had the good sense of holding on to the good old fashion of giving his customers their moneyworth of good wines and liquors.

6. In process industry, a liquid in which a desired reaction takes place, e.g. pulping liquor is a mixture of chemicals and water which breaks wood into its components, thus facilitating the extraction of cellulose.
7. A liquid in which something has been steeped.

Derived terms

• black liquor
• call liquor
• chocolate liquor
• corn liquor
• hard liquor
• hold one's liquor
• in liquor
• iron liquor
• Labarraque's liquor
• liquor amnii
• liquor commission
• liquor gauge
• liquor licence
• liquor lounge
• liquor of flints
• liquor sanguinis
• liquor silicum
• liquor store
• liquor thief
• liquor up
• malt liquor
• mother liquor
• red liquor
• sea liquor
• tan liquor
• tin liquor
• well liquor
• worse for liquor

 

Related terms

• liqueur
• liquid
• liquidate
• liquidation
• liquidator
• liquidity
• liquidizer

 

Translations

liquid obtained by cooking meat and/or vegetables

• Bulgarian: бульон m (buljon)
• Catalan: suc (ca) m
• Estonian: leem
• Finnish: liemi (fi)
• Irish: licéar m
• Polish: bulion (pl) m
• Spanish: jugo (es) m
• Welsh: gwlych m

strong alcoholic drink derived from fermentation and distillation

• Arabic: كُحُول (ar) m (kuḥūl), خَمْر (ar) (ḵamr)
• Belarusian: алкаго́льны напо́й m (alkahólʹny napój), алкаго́ль m (alkahólʹ)
• Bulgarian: спиртна напитка f (spirtna napitka)
• Burmese: အရက် (my) (a.rak)
• Catalan: licor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 烈酒 (zh) (lièjiǔ), 蒸餾酒／蒸馏酒 (zh) (zhēngliújiǔ)

• Danish: likør (da) c, spiritus c
• Dutch: sterke drank m, sterkedrank (nl) m
• Esperanto: likvoro
• Estonian: viin (et) (vodka), naps (a shot of any strong alcohol)
• Finnish: viina (fi) (clear in color); väkevä alkoholijuoma, väkevä (fi) (any strong alcohol)
• French: spiritueux (fr) m
• Galician: licor m
• German: Spirituose (de) f, Lebenswasser (de) n, Branntwein (de) m (loosely)
• Hebrew: שֵׁכָר (he) m (shechár)
• Hindi: दारू (hi) ? (dārū)
• Hungarian: likőr (hu), tömény (hu), rövidital (hu)
• Hunsrik: Likoer m
• Ingrian: viina
• Irish: deoch mheisciúil f
• Italian: liquore (it) m
• Javanese: likir (jv)
• Khmer: ស្រា (km) (sraa), សុរា (km) (soraa)
• Korean: 술 (ko) (sul)
• Lao: ເຫລົ້າ (lao), ສຸຣາ (su rā), ສຸລາ (su lā)
• Latin: tēmētum n, ebriamen n, aqua vitae f (medieval)
• Latvian: liķieris, spirts (lv)
• Lezgi: ички (ički)
• Malay: arak (ms), minuman keras (ms)
• Malayalam: മദ്യം (ml) (madyaṁ), കള്ള് (ml) (kaḷḷŭ), ലഹരിപാനീയം (laharipānīyaṁ)
• Maori: waipiro
• Norwegian: brennevin (no) n, sprit m
• Persian: عرق (fa) ('araq)
• Polish: trunek (pl) m, akwawita (pl) f, okowita (pl) f
• Portuguese: licor (pt) m
• Quechua: aqha
• Romanian: lichior (ro) n
• Russian: спиртно́й напи́ток m (spirtnój napítok), алкого́льный напи́ток m (alkogólʹnyj napítok), кре́пкий напи́ток m (krépkij napítok), спирт (ru) m (spirt), алкого́ль (ru) m (alkogólʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: deoch làidir f, spiorad m
• Spanish: licor (es) m
• Swedish: sprit (sv) c, likör (sv)
• Tagalog: likor
• Thai: เหล้า (th) (lâo), สุรา (th) (sù-raa)
• Ukrainian: алкого́льний напі́й m (alkohólʹnyj napíj), алкого́ль (uk) m (alkohólʹ)
• Welsh: gwirod m or f, diod gadarn f
• West Flemish: kortndrank m
• Zhuang: laeuj

liquid used in process industry to produce a desired reaction

• Esperanto: reaglikvo
• Finnish: liemi (fi)
• Spanish: licor (es) m

Verb

liquor (third-person singular simple present liquors, present participle liquoring, simple past and past participle liquored)

1. (intransitive) To drink liquor, usually to excess.
2. (transitive) To cause someone to drink liquor, usually to excess.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To grease.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:

     Liquor fishermen's boots.

   • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “II. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

     cart-wheels squeak not when they are liquored

Derived terms

• liquored up

Translations

to drink liquor, usually to excess

• Estonian: jooma (et), purjutama

to cause someone to drink liquor, usually to excess

to grease

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “liquor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

References

• “liquor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “liquor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Latin

Etymology 1

From liqueō (“I am liquid, fluid”) +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kʷor/, [ˈlʲɪkʷɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kwor/, [ˈliːkwor]

Noun

liquor m (genitive liquōris); third declension

1. fluidity, liquidity
2. liquid, fluid

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	liquor	liquōrēs
Genitive	liquōris	liquōrum
Dative	liquōrī	liquōribus
Accusative	liquōrem	liquōrēs
Ablative	liquōre	liquōribus
Vocative	liquor	liquōrēs

Related terms

Related terms

• liquefaciō
• liquefactiō
• liquēns
• liqueō
• liquēscō
• liquidē
• liquiditās
• liquidiusculus
• liquidō
• liquidus

Descendants

• Catalan: licor
• French: liqueur
• → Romanian: licoare
• Italian: liquore
• Occitan: liquor
• Russian: ликёр (likjór)
• Sicilian: licori m
• Spanish: licor m

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈliː.kʷor/, [ˈlʲiːkʷɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kwor/, [ˈliːkwor]

Verb

līquor (present infinitive līquī); third conjugation, deponent, no perfect or supine stem

1. (intransitive) to be fluid or liquid
2. (intransitive) to flow
3. (intransitive) to melt, dissolve

Conjugation

Conjugation of līquor (third conjugation, no supine stem, deponent, no perfect stem)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	līquor	līqueris, līquere	līquitur	līquimur	līquiminī	līquuntur
	imperfect	līquēbar	līquēbāris, līquēbāre	līquēbātur	līquēbāmur	līquēbāminī	līquēbantur
	future	līquar	līquēris, līquēre	līquētur	līquēmur	līquēminī	līquentur
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	līquar	līquāris, līquāre	līquātur	līquāmur	līquāminī	līquantur
	imperfect	līquerer	līquerēris, līquerēre	līquerētur	līquerēmur	līquerēminī	līquerentur
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	līquere	—	—	līquiminī	—
	future	—	līquitor	līquitor	—	—	līquuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		līquī	—	—	—	—	—
participles		līquēns	—	—	—	—	līquendus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		līquendī	līquendō	līquendum	līquendō	—	—

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kʷor/, [ˈlʲɪkʷɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kwor/, [ˈliːkwor]

Verb

liquor

1. first-person singular present passive indicative of liquō

References

• “līquor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lĭquor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “liquor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• liquor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “liquor”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.