Advertisement

Origin and history of drinker

drinker(n.)

Old English drincere, "one who drinks," agent noun from drink (v.). Specifically of habitual consumers of alcoholic beverages from c. 1200.

Entries linking to drinker

drink(v.)

Old English drincan "to swallow water or other fluid," also "to swallow up, engulf" (class III strong verb; past tense dranc, past participle druncen), from Proto-Germanic *drenkanan (source also of Old Saxon drinkan, Old Frisian drinka, Dutch drinken, Old High German trinkan, German trinken, Old Norse drekka, Gothic drigkan "to drink"), which is of uncertain origin or connections, perhaps from a root meaning "to draw."

Most Indo-European words for this trace to PIE *po(i)- (source of Greek pino, Latin biber, Irish ibim, Old Church Slavonic piti, Russian pit'; see imbibe).

Figurative meaning "take in through the senses" is from late 12c. Especially "to imbibe spiritous liquors" from mid-15c. To drink to "salute in drinking" is by mid-13c. To drink like a fish is recorded from 1744. To drink (someone) under the table "continue drinking and remain (comparatively) sober after others have passed out" is by 1909.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    gimlet
    vodka and (Rose's) lime juice, by 1927, apparently originally nautical, presumably from its "penetrating" effects on the drinker...
    trope
    1530s, from Latin tropus "a figure of speech," from Greek tropos "a turn, direction, course, way; manner, fashion," in rhetoric, "turn or figure of speech," related to trope "a turning" and trepein "to turn," from PIE root *trep- "to turn." Technically, in rhetoric, "a figure of
    Porte
    "Ottoman court at Constantinople," c. 1600, from French, in full, la Sublime Porte, literally "the high gate," translation of Arabic al-Bab al-'Ali, "lofty gate," official name of the central office of the Ottoman government (compare Vatican for "the Papacy," White House for "the
    sot
    late Old English sott "stupid person, fool," a sense now obsolete, from Old French sot, from Gallo-Roman *sott- (probably related to Medieval Latin sottus), a word of uncertain origin, with cognates from Portugal to Germany. The surviving English meaning "one who is stupefied wit
    Tso
    in Chinese restaurant dishes, a reference to General Tso Tsungtang (1812-1885), military leader during the late Qing dynasty who crushed the Taiping rebels in four provinces. The chicken dish that bears his name (for no apparent reason) in Chinese restaurants apparently is modifi
    inebriate
    late 15c., from Latin inebriatus, past participle of inebriare "to make drunk," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + ebriare "make drunk," from ebrius "drunk," probably from PIE root *hegwh- "to drink." Related: Inebriated; inebriating. Also used in 19c. English were inebriac
    consumer
    early 15c., "one who squanders or wastes," agent noun from consume. In economics, "one who uses up goods or articles, one who destroys the exchangeable value of a commodity by using it" (opposite of producer), from 1745. Consumer goods is attested from 1890. In U.S., consumer pri
    statistics
    1770, "science dealing with data about the condition of a state or community" [Barnhart], from German Statistik, popularized and perhaps coined by German political scientist Gottfried Achenwall (1719-1772) in his "Vorbereitung zur Staatswissenschaft" (1748), from Modern Latin sta
    news
    late 14c., "new things," plural of new (n.) "new thing" (see new (adj.)); after French nouvelles, which was used in Bible translations to render Medieval Latin nova (neuter plural) "news," literally "new things." The English word was construed as singular at least from the 1560s,
    gang
    from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), of uncertain or

    Share drinker

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near drinker
    Advertisement