booze English · revision 854
11 Oct 2026, 00:49 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /buːz/ ''(UK)''; /buz/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a variant of earlier ''bouse'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[inh|enm|bousen|t=to drink to excess]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|dum|būsen|t=to drink heavily]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) related to Middle Low German ''būsen'' “to revel”,^(Barnhart 1995) of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ As a verb, to drink deeply or for enjoyment (c. 1300).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The word was mostly a cant term in the late 18th century.^(Etymonline) The noun ''booze'', “drink”, is recorded from 1732,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and specifically “alcoholic drink” from 1859.^(OED 1989) The spelling with ''-z-'' may have been popularized partly by the name of the 19th-century Philadelphia distiller E. G. Booz.^(Etymonline) A drinking bout is a ''booze'' (1864), and to be ''on the booze'' is to be on a spell of hard drinking (1850).^(OED 1989) ''Booze-up'' and ''booze-hound'' date from the 20th century (1926).^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1300 – verb, to drink deeply.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1732 – noun, drink.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1768 – the spelling ''booze''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+ * 1859 – alcoholic drink.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1864 – a drinking bout.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1926 – ''booze-up'', ''booze-hound''.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(informal)'' Alcoholic drink, especially hard liquor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A drinking spree or session.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To drink alcohol, especially to excess, as in ''booze it up''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[boozer]]
+ * [[boozy]]
+ * [[boozehound]]
+ * [[booze-up]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[carouse]]
+ * [[tipple]]
+ * [[liquor]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}