firewater

English

Etymology

A calque of a Native American language term, probably Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo (“alcohol”), from ishkodew- (“fire”) + -aaboo (“liquid”, glossed in older works as “water”). A number of other Algonquian and Siouan languages also refer to whiskey with compounds that mean "fire-water" (on which basis noted Algonquianist Leonard Bloomfield even reconstructed a Proto-Algonquian word for it, *eškwete·wa·po·wi, although this could not have existed). The motivation of the name is not entirely clear: It may refer to the “burning” feeling of ingesting high-proof alcohol. Low-quality spirits also often included ingredients such as pepper, tobacco juice, molasses, etc. Alternatively it may refer to the flammability of alcohol.

Non-alcohol-related senses are simply fire +‎ water.

Pronunciation

Audio (US): (file)

Noun

firewater (countable and uncountable, plural firewaters)

(informal) High-proof alcohol, especially whiskey (especially in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans).
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:alcoholic beverage
- 1909, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “He Also Serves”, in Options‎^[1]:
  High Jack had been drinking too much rum ever since we landed in Boca. You know how an Indian is—the palefaces fixed his clock when they introduced him to firewater.
- 2012 November 15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:
  Four polite Englishmen in their middle 20s, feigning like firewater drunks in a Eugene O'Neill play: it's exactly the stuff that makes their detractors groan.
High-temperature hydraulic condensate discharged from industrial boilers.
(manufacturing) Water for use in firefighting.
- 1981, Energy Progress‎^[3], page 205:
  A continuously circulated firewater line supplies a deluge cooling system in each gathering center for fire containment.
- 2015 March 18, Karen Caffarini, “Cause of line break unknown at BP”, in Post-Tribune‎^[4]:
  A break in a firewater line at BP Whiting Refinery caused water with an oil-like sheen to spread outside the refinery's walls along a section of Indianapolis Boulevard Tuesday night.

Translations

high proof alcohol

Czech: ohnivá voda (cs)
Danish: ildvand n
Dutch: vuurwater (nl) n
Finnish: tuliliemi (fi)
German: Feuerwasser (de) n
Low German:
German Low German: Füerwater n, Füerwoter n
Portuguese: aguardente (pt)
Russian: огненная вода (ru) f (ognennaja voda)

high temperature hydraulic condensate

Finnish: tulistettu vesi

water for use in firefighting

Anagrams

water fire