martini

[ mahr-tee-nee ]

/ mɑrˈti ni /

noun, plural mar·ti·nis.

a cocktail made with gin or vodka and dry vermouth, usually served with a green olive or a twist of lemon peel.

Nearby words

Origin of martini

First recorded in 1885–90; perhaps alteration of Martinez (an earlier alternate name of the drink, of disputed orig.), by back formation (taking it as plural), or by association with the vermouth manufacturer Martini, Sola & Co. (later Martini & Rossi)

Martini

[ mahr-tee-nee; Italian mahr-tee-nee ]

/ mɑrˈti ni; Italian mɑrˈti ni /

noun

Si·mo·ne

[see-maw-ne] /siˈmɔ nɛ/, 1283–1344, Italian painter.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for martini

At the end of dinner he came down and sat in front of me with a martini.
'The Knick' Star Eve Hewson on Being Bono's Daughter and Injecting Cocaine Into Clive Owen's Penis|Kevin Fallon|August 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After more innuendo-laden, sex-soaked back-and-forths, Eric poured a martini.
Inside True Blood’s Steamy Gay Sex Scene|Kevin Fallon|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I was just with him at the Minetta Tavern, having a martini and a burger,” she says.
‘The Good Wife’s Christine Baranski on Life After Will Gardner’s Death|Jason Lynch|April 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Are there any martini glasses clinking when filming is done?
Emmys 2013: Linda Cardellini on ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ and More|Marlow Stern|August 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Pour yourself a martini—shaken, not stirred, of course—and enjoy.
‘Borgen,’ ‘The Thick of It,’ Bond: What to Watch During the Thanksgiving Weekend|Jace Lacob|November 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Life, and all the horror of life, came back into Martini's face.
The Gadfly|E. L. Voynich
Martini said contemptuously to Gemma as they crossed the Signoria square one bright, cold Sunday morning.
The Gadfly|E. L. Voynich
"Well, I hope it won't be so bad any more," said Martini kindly.
The Gadfly|E. L. Voynich
How much he owed to the careful training Martini was able to give, was seen in even his first attempts at operatic composition.
The World's Great Men of Music|Harriette Brower
Margaret looked at them suspiciously, with the brightness in her eye that came from her first martini.
The Last Straw|William J. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for martini

Martini

/ (mɑːˈtiːnɪ) /

noun plural -nis

trademark an Italian vermouth

a cocktail of gin and vermouth

Word Origin for Martini

C19 (sense 2): perhaps from the name of the inventor

Martini

/ (Italian marˈtiːni) /

noun

Simone (siˈmoːne). ?1284–1344, Sienese painter

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 martini

martini

1891, short for Martini cocktail (1886), perhaps from Martini & Rossi, Italian firm that makes vermouth (an ingredient of the drink); the firm was in existence then by that name, but it is not specified among the ingredients in the earliest recipes (e.g. Harry Johnson's "Bartender's Manual," 1888). Another theory holds that it is a corruption of Martinez, California, town where the drink was said to have originated. See discussion in Lowell Edmunds' book "Martini, Straight Up" (1998).