wine

Pronunciation

• IPA: /waɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English win,^[2] inherited from Old English wīn,^[3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *wīnam,^[3][5] an early borrowing from Latin vīnum (“wine”),^[3][4][5] which is also the source of Old Saxon and Old High German wīn (German Wein), Dutch wijn, Old Norse vín and Gothic wein.^[4][5] The Latin word is related to Ancient Greek οἶνος (oînos, “wine”), Albanian vēne and Armenian gini,^[4][3] and to Hittite and to non-Indo-European words such as Georgian and West Semitic ones (Hebrew yayin).^[3] Watkins takes it as probably from a lost Mediterranean word *win-, *woin-;^[3] Beekes argues for an Indo-European origin, connecting Latin vītis “vine” and the root Proto-Indo-European *wei- (“to turn, bend”).^[3][4] Latin vīnum also gave Old Church Slavonic vino, Lithuanian vynas and Welsh gwin.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fermented juice of the grape: about 725, in Beowulf,^[4] and in the OED from 805–31.^[6] As one of the elements of the Eucharist it is from about 1005.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A fermented drink made from other fruits or plants, usually with a qualifying word, is from 1398.^[6] In pharmacy a medicinal solution in wine is from 1652.^[6] Wine as the usual accompaniment of dessert is from 1824.^[6] The verb was first “to spend in drinking wine”, in the 1620s,^[3] then “to entertain with wine” from 1862,^[3] or 1829 for the intransitive sense in Merriam-Webster.^[2] Wine and vine are at heart the same word, and the Latin word also gave vinegar and vintage.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – in Beowulf.^[4]
• c. 1005 – the Eucharistic wine.^[6]
• 1398 – wine of other fruits.^[6]
• 16th century – winebibber, winepress.^[5]
• 1620s – verb, to spend in drinking wine.^[3]
• 1652 – a medicinal wine.^[6]
• 1862 – to entertain with wine.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An alcoholic drink made from the fermented juice of grapes.
2. A similar drink made from other fruits or plants: dandelion wine.
3. Something that intoxicates or invigorates.
4. A dark red colour.

Verb

1. To entertain with wine: to wine and dine.

Word family

• wineless
• winish
• winegrowing
• winemaker
• winemaking
• wineshop
• wineberry
• winebibber

Related words

• vine
• vinegar
• vintage
• vineyard
• oenology

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press