Other forms: whiskeys
Whiskey is a strong golden spirit aged in wooden barrels. Irish whiskey, a glass of whiskey, whiskey barrel.
The spelling splits by country: whiskey with an e is Irish and American, whisky without is Scotch, Canadian and Japanese — and the rule is followed closely enough that the spelling tells you the origin. The colour comes entirely from the barrel. Note that the word is from the Irish for water of life, itself a translation of the Latin.
1nounwhiskeyA strong golden spirit aged in wooden barrels.
“He poured himself a glass of Irish whiskey and sat down by the fire.”
whiskey is a spirit.
Also accepted in games: whisky
An English shortening of usquebaugh, from Irish uisce beatha, water of life, translating Latin aqua vitae. Eau de vie and aquavit are the same idea in other languages.
Medieval Latin
aqua vītae — water of life
Irish
uisce beatha
English, today
whiskey
Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh, from Irish uisce beatha, calque of Medieval Latin aqua vītae (“water of life”). Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source and vodka from a Russian diminutive for water in reference to the dilution of pure grain spirits.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA