Etymologically
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vodka

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 03:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvɒdkə/; /ˈvɑdkə/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian водка (vódka),[2][3][4] a diminutive of вода (vodá, “water”) with the suffix -ка (-ka),[2][5][6] so literally "little water".[5][6] вода (vodá) comes from the same Indo-European source as water,[6][7] Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”).[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

1800 in Etymonline, in a description of 18th-century Russian life that calls it "rectified corn-spirits";[5] 1802 in Barnhart;[2] the OED's first example is from 1803, in F. W. Blagdon's translation of Pallas's travels.[3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that calling distilled spirits "water" is the same euphemism seen in eau de vie and whisky.[6][8] At first it was described as a Russian spirit distilled mainly from rye, but also from barley or potatoes,[3] and SOED notes it as made especially in Russia and Poland.[9]

Timeline

  • 1800 – as a Russian word in English.[5]
  • 1803 – the spirit, in Blagdon's Pallas.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A clear spirit, originally from Russia, distilled from grain such as rye or wheat, or from potatoes.
  2. A glass or drink of this.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press