A distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash, aged in wooden barrels. Spelling varies by region, with 'whisky' used in Scotland and Canada, 'whiskey' in Ireland and America.
From Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha meaning 'water of life', via Middle Irish uisce. The term was shortened and anglicized over centuries as the drink spread beyond Celtic regions in the 15th-16th centuries.
Whisky literally means 'water of life' in Gaelic, reflecting how precious this distilled spirit was to Celtic cultures. The spelling difference between 'whisky' and 'whiskey' isn't random - it follows the presence or absence of the letter 'e' in the country names Scotland versus Ireland.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.