soda

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsəʊdə/ (UK); /ˈsoʊdə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Italian soda, a kind of saltwort from which soda was obtained, or Medieval Latin soda,^[2][3][4] a word of uncertain origin.^[3] Barnhart, following Steiger, Hess and Corominas, derives it from Arabic سُوَّاد (suwwād), a variety of saltwort exported from North Africa to Sicily in the Middle Ages, related to sawād, black, the colour of the plant.^[2] An older theory traced it to Medieval Latin sodānum, a headache remedy, from Arabic ṣudā', a splitting headache;^[2][3][5] the SOED suggests Persian šūrak, saltwort, misread.^[6] Etymonline also mentions Catalan sosa, attested from the late 13th century.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sodium carbonate, an alkaline substance from the ashes of certain plants: 1471 in Barnhart, as sode; the late 15th century in Etymonline; 1558 in the OED and Merriam-Webster.^[2][3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

Saltwort itself is called soda from before 1500.^[2] Soda was a major trading commodity in the medieval Mediterranean, until commercial manufacture began in France in the late 18th century.^[3] Soda water (1802) was water charged with carbonic acid; it rarely contained soda, but kept the name from when it did.^[3] Soda as short for soda water is from 1834,^[3][7] and a drink of it, or an ice-cream soda, from 1933.^[7] Caustic soda is from 1839,^[7] soda bread from 1850, and soda cracker from 1863.^[3] Baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, is from 1851–54.^[7] Sodium was named from soda in the 19th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1471 – sodium carbonate.^[2]
• before 1500 – saltwort.^[2]
• 1802 – soda water.^[3]
• 1834 – soda, a carbonated drink.^[7]
• 1839 – caustic soda.^[7]
• 1850 – soda bread.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of several compounds of sodium, such as sodium carbonate (washing soda) or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
2. Carbonated water; soda water.
3. (US, Canada) A sweet fizzy drink.
4. A drink of carbonated water with ice cream and flavouring.
5. The top card at the start of a game of faro.

Word family

• sodaless
• sodic
• sodalite
• sodamide
• sodium
• baking soda
• bicarbonate of soda
• sal soda

Related words

• soda water
• seltzer

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press