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.

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aguardiente British  

/ aɣwarˈðjente /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of aguardiente

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

He is as moderate as a Bedouin in his wants, and never touches the burning aguardiente which the muleteers are accustomed to drink.

From The Lands of the Saracen Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain by Taylor, Bayard

It is of excellent quality, especially a sort made from muscatel grapes, and called aguardiente de Italia.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 by Various