whisky

English

Scotch whisky and with a snifter

Bottles of Scotch whisky at Charlie's Tavern, New York (c. 1947)

Oak barrels waiting for processing at the Whyte & MacKay Distillery in Invergordon, Scotland.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪski/, /ˈʍɪski/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪski
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Etymology 1

Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh (compare obsolete whiskybae), from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (“water of life”), calque of Medieval Latin aqua vitae. Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source.

Noun

whisky (countable and uncountable, plural whiskies)

1. (Scotland, Canada, Australia) Alternative form of whiskey, an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain, usually aged in oak barrels, (particularly) Scotch; a drink of this liquor. [early 18th century]
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

Usage notes

The regional spellings whisky and whiskey (from the Irish form of the same Gaelic word) are used worldwide to distinguish regional drinks, for example Scotch whisky, but Irish whiskey and bourbon whiskey.

Derived terms

• grain whisky
• hot whisky
• malt whisky
• single malt whisky
• tim-whisky
• whisky butter
• whisky butter
• whisky-jack
• whisky jack
• whisky seat
• whisky tango foxtrot

 

Etymology 2

From whisk +‎ -y.

Noun

whisky (plural whiskies)

1. (historical) Alternative form of whiskey, a light gig or carriage.
   • 1768, Ignatius Sancho, letter to Mr. M—, in Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, London: J. Nichols, 3rd edition, 1784, pp. 7-8,^[1]

     Look into old age, you will see avarice joined to poverty—letchery, gout, impotency, like three monkeys, or London bucks, in a one-horse whisky, driving to the Devil.

   • 1797, Charlotte Lennox, chapter 4, in The History of Sir George Warrington‎^[2], volume 1, London: J. Bell, page 46:

     At the appointed time Mr. Kettering’s one-horse chaise, or rather whisky, drove up to the door; for, as it was principally intended for him to visit his patients, when disinclined to mount his horse, it was built in the lightest manner, and without a head, that it might move with the greater expedition.

Derived terms

• tim-whisky

 

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈwis.ki]

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys or whiskies)

1. whisky, whiskey

Czech

Alternative forms

• viska

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪskɪ]
• Hyphenation: whi‧s‧ky

Noun

whisky f (indeclinable)

1. whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• whisky in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Noun

whisky c (singular definite whiskyen, plural indefinite whiskyer)

1. whiskey

Declension

Declension of whisky

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	whisky	whiskyen	whiskyer	whiskyerne
genitive	whiskys	whiskyens	whiskyers	whiskyernes

See also: Whisky and Whiskey

Dutch

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɪski/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whisky's, diminutive whisky'tje n)

1. (a glass of) whisky, whiskey

French

Alternative forms

• ouisqui, ouisquie, ouiski (all rare)
• whiskey

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wis.ki/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskies or whiskys)

1. whisky, whiskey

   Synonym: (rare) visqui

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky.

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. whisky, whiskey

Greenlandic

Etymology

From English whisky (probably via Danish whisky).

Noun

whisky (plural whiskyt)

1. whisky

Further reading

• whisky in Katersat

Hungarian

Etymology

From English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈviski] (phonetic respelling: viszki)
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky
• Rhymes: -ki

Noun

whisky (plural whiskyk)

1. whisky (USA, Ireland: whiskey)

Declension

Inflection of whisky
	singular	plural
nominative	whisky	whiskyk
accusative	whiskyt	whiskyket
dative	whiskynek	whiskyknek
instrumental	whiskyvel	whiskykkel
causal-final	whiskyért	whiskykért
translative	whiskyvé	whiskykké
terminative	whiskyig	whiskykig
essive-formal	whiskyként	whiskykként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	whiskyben	whiskykben
superessive	whiskyn	whiskyken
adessive	whiskynél	whiskyknél
illative	whiskybe	whiskykbe
sublative	whiskyre	whiskykre
allative	whiskyhez	whiskykhez
elative	whiskyből	whiskykből
delative	whiskyről	whiskykről
ablative	whiskytől	whiskyktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	whiskyé	whiskyké
non-attributive possessive - plural	whiskyéi	whiskykéi

Possessive forms of whisky
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	whiskym	whiskyjeim
2nd person sing.	whiskyd	whiskyjeid
3rd person sing.	whiskyje	whiskyjei
1st person plural	whiskynk	whiskyjeink
2nd person plural	whiskytek	whiskyjeitek
3rd person plural	whiskyjük	whiskyjeik

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.ski/, /uˈi.ski/
• Rhymes: -iski
• Hyphenation: whì‧sky

Etymology 1

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky, alternative form of usque, shortening of usquebaugh, from Irish uisce beatha (literally “water of life”) and Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha (literally “water of life”).

Noun

whisky m (invariable)

1. (countable and uncountable) whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky, derived from whisk.

Noun

whisky m (invariable)

1. whisky (a kind of light carriage)

Further reading

• whisky² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Norman

Etymology

From English whisky, ultimately from Old Irish uisce.

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. (Jersey) whisky, whiskey

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

whisky m (definite singular whiskyen, indefinite plural whiskyer, definite plural whiskyene)

1. whisky

References

• “whisky” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English whisky, originally from Gaelic.

Noun

whisky m (definite singular whiskyen, indefinite plural whiskyar, definite plural whiskyane)

1. whisky

References

• “whisky” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɨs.ki/, /ˈwis.ki/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɨski
• Syllabification: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky f (indeclinable)

1. whisky, whiskey

Further reading

• whisky in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• whisky in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈis.ki/ [ʊˈis.ki], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwis.ki/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈis.ki/ [ʊˈis.ki], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwis.ki/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /uˈiʃ.ki/ [ʊˈiʃ.ki], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwiʃ.ki/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈis.ke/ [ʊˈis.ke], (faster pronunciation) /ˈwis.ke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈwis.ki/

• Homophone: uísque (Brazil)
• Hyphenation: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskies)

1. Alternative form of uísque

Romanian

Alternative forms

• uischi

Etymology

Borrowed from French whisky, from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.ski/, /ˈuj.ski/

Noun

whisky n (plural whisky-uri)

1. whisky, whiskey

Declension

Declension of whisky

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) whisky	whisky-ul	(niște) whisky-uri	whisky-urile
genitive/dative	(unui) whisky	whisky-ului	(unor) whisky-uri	whisky-urilor
vocative	whisky-ule		whisky-urilor

Slovak

Etymology

Borrowed from English whisky, from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha and Irish uisce beatha (“water of life”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈviski]

Noun

whisky f nondeclinable

1. whisky, whiskey

Derived terms

• whiskový

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Spanish

Alternative forms

• güisqui, wiski, juisque (New Mexico)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English whisky.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiski/ [ˈwis.ki]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iski
• Syllabification: whis‧ky

Noun

whisky m (plural whiskys)

1. whisky (alcoholic liquor)

Further reading

• “whisky”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
• whisky on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es

Swedish

Etymology

From English whisky.

Noun

whisky c

1. whisky, whiskey (alcoholic drink)

Declension

Declension of whisky
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	whisky	whiskyn	—	—
Genitive	whiskys	whiskyns	—	—