grenadine

¹ American  

[gren-uh-deen, gren-uh-deen] / ˌgrɛn əˈdin, ˈgrɛn əˌdin /

noun

1. a thin fabric of leno weave in silk, nylon, rayon, or wool.

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grenadine ² American  

[gren-uh-deen, gren-uh-deen] / ˌgrɛn əˈdin, ˈgrɛn əˌdin /

noun

1. a syrup made from pomegranate juice.

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grenadine ¹ British  

/ ˈɡrɛnəˌdiːn, ˌɡrɛnəˈdiːn /

noun

1. a syrup made from pomegranate juice, used as a sweetening and colouring agent in various drinks

2. 1. a moderate reddish-orange colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      a grenadine coat

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grenadine ² British  

/ ˌɡrɛnəˈdiːn /

noun

1. a light thin leno-weave fabric of silk, wool, rayon, or nylon, used esp for dresses

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Etymology

Origin of grenadine¹

1850–55; < French, perhaps after Granada, Spain. See -ine ¹

Origin of grenadine²

1700–10; < French, diminutive of grenade pomegranate. See grenade, -ine ¹

Explanation

Grenadine is a syrup made from pomegranates. It’s red, thick, and sticky but delicious mixed with other drinks. If you’ve ever had a proper Shirley Temple, you’ve had grenadine and maybe even a little umbrella. The word grenadine comes from France in the late 1800s, from sirop de grenadine for "syrup made from pomegranates.” Imagine poets and cabaret singers sipping drinks mixed with grenadine in a sassy café in Paris in the 1900s. Or now — people still use grenadine all the time. Bartenders know what grenadine is, since it's part of many mixed drinks. Two drinks that include grenadine are the Sea Breeze (which has alcohol) and the Shirley Temple cocktail (which does not).

Example Sentences

The cocktail, known as "The Barbie," is a mixture of Blue Curacao, grenadine syrup and club soda.

From Reuters • Jul. 23, 2023

Brod accidentally sprayed soda water all over Kafka, who laughed so hard that seltzer and grenadine shot out of his nose.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2023

By the 1930s, Constante — "the Cocktail King of Cuba" who invented Hemingway's daiquiri — had tweaked the recipe to call for equal parts rum and vermouth, and lost the grenadine and bitters.

From Salon • Aug. 21, 2021

And around Bermuda, he says, “people put mango juice, apricot brandy, grenadine, all kinds of different stuff. Islanders here have an enormous sweet tooth.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 14, 2020

“Take last night. There was at least ten guys ordered Manhattans. Sometimes maybe you don’t get two calls for a Manhattan in a month. It’s the grenadine gives the stuff that taste.”

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck