firewater
Plural: firewaters
Noun
- any strong spirits (such as strong whisky or rum)
- High-proof alcoholic beverage, especially whiskey (especially in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans).
- Water for use in firefighting.
- High-temperature hydraulic condensate discharged from industrial boilers.
- Synonym of alkahest.
Origin / 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 could not have existed). The motivation of the name is not entirely clear: It may refer to the “burning” feeling of ingesting high-proof alcohol. Low-quality spirits also often included ingredients such as pepper, tobacco juice, molasses, etc. Alternatively it may refer to the flammability of alcohol.
Non-alcohol-related senses are simply fire + water.
Synonyms
adult beverage, alcohol, alkahest, bevvy, booze, carouse, drink, grog, libation, liquor, lush, nightcap, potation, potent potable, sauce, shot, strong-water, tiddly, tincture, tipple
Scrabble Score: 15
firewater: valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordfirewater: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
firewater: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary