cognac
[kohn-yak, kon-; French kaw-nyak]
- (often initial capital letter) the brandy distilled in and shipped from the legally delimited area surrounding the town of Cognac, in W central France.
- any French brandy.
- any good brandy.
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Origin of cognac
Borrowed into English from French around 1585–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cognac
Contemporary Examples
From cognac to bourbon, rye to añejo tequila, many of our beloved spirits spend years aging in wooden casks.
How Much Do Whisky Casks Really Affect Taste?December 10, 2014
The cognac, an effort by the Georgian vintners to replicate the traditional French liquor, is valued at $1400 for a single bottle.
Meditation Rugs, Swords, and Horse Head Fiddles: The Strangest Gifts Given to Government BigwigsBen Jacobs
November 11, 2014
He also smokes copious amounts of weed mooched off his friends and makes miracles by turning water into cognac.
He replied, “Oh, I had six bottles of wine and three bottles of cognac.”
Rob Reiner on the State of Romcoms, ‘The Princess Bride’s’ Alternate Ending, and the Red ViperMarlow Stern
July 27, 2014
Snoop has come prepared with a bottle of cognac shaped like a curvy lady.
Historical Examples
She said, however, that the cognac was flattered, and took up her knitting.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
There's many such a fortune been made out of Mechlin and Cognac.'
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
Then he went to take a little glass of cognac which stood on the mantelpiece.
FruitfulnessEmile Zola
He took one cognac after another and every evening he was completely intoxicated.
PsychotherapyHugo Mnsterberg
Besides which—after all a gentleman must have his cognac, and his lady her tea and silks.
Red Cap TalesSamuel Rutherford Crockett
Cognac
- a town in SW France: centre of the district famed for its brandy. Pop: 19 534 (1999)
- (sometimes not capital) a high-quality grape brandy
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cognac
n.
1590s, Coniacke, "wine produced in Cognac," the region in western France. The sense of "brandy" is 1755, shortened from 17c. cognac brandy, which was distilled from cognac wine. The place name is from Medieval Latin Comniacum, from the personal name Cominius and the Gallo-Roman suffix -acum.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper