horilka

English

Alternative forms

• gorilka
• ghorilka

Etymology

From Ukrainian горі́лка (horílka, “vodka”). Compare Belarusian гарэ́лка (harélka), South Russian горе́лка (gorélka).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hoˈɹilka/
• Hyphenation: hor‧il‧ka

Noun

horilka (countable and uncountable, plural horilkas)

1. Ukrainian distilled spirit, sometimes flavoured with hot peppers.
   • 1931, Ekaterina Konstantinovna Breshko-Breshkovskaia, Lincoln Hutchinson ed., Hidden Springs of the Russian Revolution: Personal Memoirs of Katerina Breshkovskaia, Stanford University Press, page 32:

     In return for a glass of horilka he took us to the other end of the village, showed us an empty hut, and introduced us to its owner.

Usage notes

This is a foreign term not fully naturalized in English, usually italicized.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:horilka. See also Citations:gorelka.

Synonyms

• brandy
• corn-brandy
• vodka
• whisky, whiskey

Related terms

• gorelka
• gorzałka

Translations

Ukrainian vodka

• Belarusian: гарэ́лка f (harélka)
• Esperanto: horilko
• Russian: горе́лка (ru) f (gorélka), во́дка (ru) f (vódka)
• Ukrainian: горі́лка f (horílka)