whisky

English

Scotch whisky and with a snifter
Bottles of Scotch whisky at Charlie's Tavern, New York (c. 1947)
Oak barrels waiting for processing at the Whyte & MacKay Distillery in Invergordon, Scotland.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwɪski/, /ˈʍɪski/
  • (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. [early 18th century]
    • 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

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys or whiskies)

  1. whisky, whiskey

Czech

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈvɪskɪ]
  • 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

See also: Whisky and Whiskey

Dutch

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɪski/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Noun

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

  1. (a glass of) whisky, whiskey

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wis.ki/
  • (file)

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskies or whiskys)

  1. whisky, whiskey
    Synonym: (rare) visqui

Further reading

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

Hungarian

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

whisky (plural whiskyk)

  1. whisky (USA, Ireland: whiskey)

Declension

Inflection of whisky
singular plural
nominative whisky whiskyk
accusative whiskyt whiskyket
dative whiskynek whiskyknek
instrumental whiskyvel whiskykkel
causal-final whiskyért whiskykért
translative whiskyvé whiskykké
terminative whiskyig whiskykig
essive-formal whiskyként whiskykként
essive-modal
inessive whiskyben whiskykben
superessive whiskyn whiskyken
adessive whiskynél whiskyknél
illative whiskybe whiskykbe
sublative whiskyre whiskykre
allative whiskyhez whiskykhez
elative whiskyből whiskykből
delative whiskyről whiskykről
ablative whiskytől whiskyktől
non-attributive
possessive - singular
whiskyé whiskyké
non-attributive
possessive - plural
whiskyéi whiskykéi
Possessive forms of whisky
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. whiskym whiskyjeim
2nd person sing. whiskyd whiskyjeid
3rd person sing. whiskyje whiskyjei
1st person plural whiskynk whiskyjeink
2nd person plural whiskytek whiskyjeitek
3rd person plural whiskyjük whiskyjeik

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwi.ski/, /uˈi.ski/[1]
  • 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

  1. whisky in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Norman

Etymology

From English whisky, ultimately from Old Irish uisce.

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

  1. (Jersey) whisky, whiskey

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

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

  1. whisky

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

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

  1. whisky

References

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwɨs.ki/, /ˈwis.ki/
  • (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

 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /uˈis.ki/ [ʊˈis.ki], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwis.ki/
    • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /uˈiʃ.ki/ [ʊˈiʃ.ki], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwiʃ.ki/
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /uˈis.ke/ [ʊˈis.ke], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwis.ke/

  • 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): [ˈviski]

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

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwiski/ [ˈwis.ki]
  • Audio (Colombia):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iski
  • Syllabification: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

  1. whisky (alcoholic liquor)

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

From English whisky.

Noun

whisky c

  1. whisky, whiskey (alcoholic drink)

Declension

Declension of whisky 
Uncountable
Indefinite Definite
Nominative whisky whiskyn
Genitive whiskys whiskyns
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