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

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

in Irish. It is derived from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

''uisce'' ("water") and ''bethu'' ("life"). The Scottish 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 Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, 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 big 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, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, 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 a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

phrase ''

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

''.

References

Whisky {{Ireland-stub