aqua vitae

• aqua vitæ

From Medieval Latin aqua vītae directly and via Middle English aqua vite and French eau-de-vie, from aqua (“water”) and vītae (“of life”). Doublet of aquavit and akvavit. Compare eau de vie, whisky, whiskey, and water of life from the same source.

• IPA^(key): /ˌeɪkwə ˈvaɪti/, /ˌækwə ˈviːteɪ/

aqua vitae (countable and uncountable, plural aquae vitae)

1. (alchemy) An aqueous solution of alcohol typically prepared by distilling wine.
2. (organic chemistry, archaic) A concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol.
3. (archaic) Synonym of liquor, particularly cognac and other French brandy.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare,  […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     Ile ſooner truſt an Iriſhman vvith my
     Aquauita bottle, Sir Hu our parſon vvith my cheeſe,
     A theefe to vvalk my ambling gelding, thẽ my vvife
     VVith her ſelfe […]

From aqua (“water”) + vītae (“of life”).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kʷa ˈu̯iː.tae̯/, [ˈäkʷä ˈu̯iːt̪äe̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kwa ˈvi.te/, [ˈäːkwä ˈviːt̪e]

aqua vītae f sg (genitive aquae vītae); first declension

1. (Medieval Latin) liquor, distilled alcohol

   Synonym: spiritus vini (“spirit of wine”)

First-declension noun with an indeclinable portion, singular only.

• aqua in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)