mescal

[ me-skal ]

/ mɛˈskæl /

noun

an intoxicating beverage distilled from the fermented juice of certain species of agave.

any agave yielding this spirit.

Also called peyote. either of two species of spineless, dome-shaped cactus, Lophophora williamsii or L. diffusa, of Texas and northern Mexico, yielding the hallucinogen peyote.

Nearby words

Origin of mescal

1695–1705, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish mescal, mezcal, mexcal < Nahuatl mexcalli intoxicant distilled from agave (perhaps equivalent to me(tl) maguey + (i)xcalli something cooked)

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

Examples from the Web for mescal

By distillation, this yields a liquid, very similar to rum, called by the Mexicans mescal.
Birds and All Nature, Vol. VI, No. 5, December 1899|Various
Snap came to care not at all for her messages and tricks, and he let nothing interfere with his evening beside Mescal.
The Heritage of the Desert|Zane Grey
Snap Naab's wife was vindictive, and called Mescal "that Indian!"
The Heritage of the Desert|Zane Grey
He almost stumbled over Mescal, who sat with her back to a stone.
The Heritage of the Desert|Zane Grey

He questioned Piute and Mescal about the sheep, and was greatly pleased with their report.
The Heritage of the Desert|Zane Grey

British Dictionary definitions for mescal

mescal

/ (mɛˈskæl) /

noun

Also called: peyote a spineless globe-shaped cactus, Lophophora williamsii, of Mexico and the southwestern US. Its button-like tubercles (mescal buttons) contain mescaline and are chewed by certain Indian tribes for their hallucinogenic effects

a colourless alcoholic spirit distilled from the fermented juice of certain agave plants

Word Origin for mescal

C19: from American Spanish, from Nahuatl mexcalli the liquor, from metl maguey + ixcalli stew

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 mescal

mescal

"plant of the genus Agave," found in deserts of Mexico and southwestern U.S., especially the American aloe, or maguey plant, 1702, from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl (Aztec) mexcalli "fermented drink made from agave," from metl "agave" + ixcalli "stew." Meaning "intoxicating liquor from fermented juice of the agave" is attested in English from 1828. Also the name of a small desert cactus (peyote) found in northern Mexico and southern Texas (1885).