distillery

Etymology

It is formed from English distiller + -ery in the OED and the Shorter Oxford,^[2][3] while Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com derive it directly from the verb.^[4][5][6] Distill is from Old French distiller, from Latin distillō (“to trickle down in drops”), from dis- (“apart”) and stillō (“to drip”), from stilla (“a drop”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or art of distilling: 1677, in John Evelyn's memoirs.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, the act of distilling, was obsolete by the early 19th century (last recorded 1807).^[2][3] The sense of a place where distilling is done, especially of spirits, is recorded from 1759,^[2][4] after a sense "business of distilling" that Etymonline finds by 1736.^[4] Merriam-Webster still lists "distillation" as an archaic sense.^[5]

Timeline

• 1677 – the action or art of distilling (obsolete after 1807).^[2][5]
• 1736 – the business of distilling.^[4]
• 1759 – a place or works for distilling, especially spirits.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place or works where alcoholic drinks such as whisky are made by distillation: They toured a gin distillery on the coast.^[7][5][2]
2. (obsolete, 1677–1807) The action or art of distilling.^[2][3][5]

Related words

• distill
• distiller
• distillation
• still
• instill

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins