aguardiente

American  

[ah-gwahr-dee-en-tee, ah-gwahr-thyen-te] / ɑˌgwɑr diˈɛn ti, ˌɑ gwɑrˈðyɛn tɛ /

noun

1. a type of brandy made in Spain and Portugal.

2. a liquor, popular in South and Central America, made from sugarcane.

3. (in Spanish-speaking countries) any distilled spirit.

---

aguardiente British  

/ aɣwarˈðjente /

noun

1. any inferior brandy or similar spirit, esp from Spain, Portugal, or South America

---

Etymology

Origin of aguardiente

An Americanism first recorded in 1815–25; from Spanish, contraction of agua ardiente literally, “fiery water”; see aqua, ardent

Example Sentences

Each volador takes a turn walking around the tree with the incense and flowers, and sprinkling it with holy water and aguardiente.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023

Lexicographer Francisco Sobrino defined ponche or diapente, in 1732, as an English drink made with aguardiente, water, lime and sugar.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2022

While the mourners weep and drink coffee with aguardiente, Connie enters a dark room full of farming implements.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 12, 2010

While getting the aguardiente for his guest he had given orders, and he knew how well such orders could be carried out.

From The Jimmyjohn Boss and Other Stories by Wister, Owen

I threw away the glass of aguardiente she had brought me, for it smelled of blood.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 353, March 1845 by Various