whisky

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

whisky

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪski/, /ˈʍɪski/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪski
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Etymology 1

Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh (compare obsolete whiskybae), from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (“water of life”), calque of Medieval Latin aqua vitae. Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source.

Noun

whisky (countable and uncountable, plural whiskies)

1. (Scotland, Canada, Australia) Alternative form of whiskey, an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain, usually aged in oak barrels, (particularly) Scotch; a drink of this liquor.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

Usage notes

The regional spellings whisky and whiskey (from the Irish form of the same Gaelic word) are used worldwide to distinguish regional drinks, for example Scotch whisky, but Irish whiskey and bourbon whiskey.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From whisk +‎ -y.

Noun

whisky (plural whiskies)

1. (historical) Alternative form of whiskey, a light gig or carriage.
   • 1768, Ignatius Sancho, letter to Mr. M—, in Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, London: J. Nichols, 3rd edition, 1784, pp. 7-8,

     Look into old age, you will see avarice joined to poverty—letchery, gout, impotency, like three monkeys, or London bucks, in a one-horse whisky, driving to the Devil.

   • 1797, Charlotte Lennox, chapter 4, in The History of Sir George Warrington‎, volume 1, London: J. Bell, page 46:

     At the appointed time Mr. Kettering’s one-horse chaise, or rather whisky, drove up to the door; for, as it was principally intended for him to visit his patients, when disinclined to mount his horse, it was built in the lightest manner, and without a head, that it might move with the greater expedition.

Derived terms

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys or whiskies)

1. whisky, whiskey

Czech

Alternative forms

• viska

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: whi‧s‧ky

Noun

whisky f (indeclinable)

1. whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• whisky in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Noun

whisky c (singular definite whiskyen, plural indefinite whiskyer)

1. whiskey

Declension

Dutch

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɪski/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whisky's, diminutive whisky'tje n)

1. (a glass of) whisky, whiskey

French

Alternative forms

• ouisqui, ouisquie, ouiski (all rare)
• whiskey

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wis.ki/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskies or whiskys)

1. whisky, whiskey

   Synonym: (rare) visqui

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. whisky, whiskey

Greenlandic

Etymology

From English whisky (probably via Danish whisky).

Noun

whisky (plural whiskyt)

1. whisky

Further reading

• whisky in Katersat

Hungarian

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):  (phonetic respelling: viszki)
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky
• Rhymes: -ki

Noun

whisky (plural whiskyk)

1. whisky (USA, Ireland: whiskey)

Declension

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.ski/, /uˈi.ski/
• Rhymes: -iski
• Hyphenation: whì‧sky

Etymology 1

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky, alternative form of usque, shortening of usquebaugh, from Irish uisce beatha (literally “water of life”) and Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha (literally “water of life”).

Noun

whisky m (invariable)

1. (countable and uncountable) whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky, derived from whisk.

Noun

whisky m (invariable)

1. whisky (a kind of light carriage)

Further reading

• whisky² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

References

Norman

Etymology

From English whisky, ultimately from Old Irish uisce.

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. (Jersey) whisky, whiskey

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:

whisky

Wikipedia ^nb

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

whisky m (definite singular whiskyen, indefinite plural whiskyer, definite plural whiskyene)

1. whisky

References

• “whisky” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

whisky

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

whisky m (definite singular whiskyen, indefinite plural whiskyar, definite plural whiskyane)

1. whisky

References

• “whisky” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

whisky

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɨs.ki/, /ˈwis.ki/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɨski
• Syllabification: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky f (indeclinable)

1. whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• whisky in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: uísque (Brazil)
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskies)

1. Alternative form of uísque

Romanian

Alternative forms

• uischi

Etymology

Borrowed from French whisky, from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.ski/, /ˈuj.ski/

Noun

whisky n (plural whisky-uri)

1. whisky, whiskey

Declension

Slovak

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky, from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha and Irish uisce beatha (“water of life”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

whisky f nondeclinable

1. whisky, whiskey

Derived terms

• whiskový

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Spanish

Alternative forms

• güisqui, wiski, juisque (New Mexico)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiski/

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iski
• Syllabification: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. whisky (alcoholic liquor)

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
• whisky on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

whisky

Wikipedia ^sv

Etymology

From English whisky.

Noun

whisky c

1. whisky, whiskey (alcoholic drink)

Declension