(), literally "water of life", is the name for

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

in Irish. It is derived from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

''uisce'' ("water") and ''bethu'' ("life"). The

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

equivalent is rendered ''uisge beatha''. Early forms of the word in English included uskebeaghe (1581), usquebaugh (1610), usquebath (1621), and usquebae (1715). The word "whiskey" (as spelt in Ireland and the United States) or "whisky" (the typical spelling in the rest of the world) is simply an anglicized version of this phrase, stemming from a mispronunciation of either ''uisce'' in Ireland or ''uisge'' in Scotland. According to the Whiskey Museum in Dublin, the different spelling began as a marketing decision which started a trend soon followed by other companies; the extra "e" was regardless a late addition, and does not appear in the 1879 book ''The Truths About Whisky'', which was published by the four biggest Dublin distillers. This development may in turn have influenced the modern Irish word ''fuisce'' ("whiskey"). The phrase ''uisce beatha'' was the name given to distilled alcohol by Irish monks of the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, and is simply a translation of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase ''

aqua vitae ''Aqua vitae'' (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a strong aqueous solution of ethanol. These terms could also be applied to weak ethanol without rectification. Usage was widespread during the Middle Ages and the ...

''.

References

Whisky {{Ireland-stub