vintage

[vin-tij]

noun

1. the wine from a particular harvest or crop.

2. the annual produce of the grape harvest, especially with reference to the wine obtained.

3. an exceptionally fine wine from the crop of a good year.

4. the time of gathering grapes, or of winemaking.

5. the act or process of producing wine; winemaking.

6. the class of a dated object with reference to era of production or use.

   a hat of last year's vintage.

adjective

1. of or relating to wines or winemaking.

2. being of a specified vintage.

   Vintage wines are usually more expensive than nonvintage wines.

3. representing the high quality of a past time.

   vintage cars;

   vintage movies.

4. old-fashioned or obsolete.

   vintage jokes.

5. being the best of its kind.

   They praised the play as vintage O'Neill.

verb (used with object)

vintaged, vintaging 

1. to gather or harvest (grapes) for wine-making.

   The muscats were vintaged too early.

2. to make (wine) from grapes.

   a region that vintages a truly great champagne.

verb (used without object)

vintaged, vintaging 

1. to harvest grapes for wine-making.

vintage

/ ˈvɪntɪdʒ /

noun

1. the wine obtained from a harvest of grapes, esp in an outstandingly good year, referred to by the year involved, the district, or the vineyard

2. the harvest from which such a wine is obtained

3. 1. the harvesting of wine grapes

   2. the season of harvesting these grapes or for making wine

4. a time of origin

   a car of Edwardian vintage

5. informal,  a group of people or objects of the same period

   a fashion of last season's vintage

adjective

1. (of wine) of an outstandingly good year

2. representative of the best and most typical

   vintage Shakespeare

3. of lasting interest and importance; venerable; classic

   vintage films

4. old-fashioned; dated

verb

1. (tr) to gather (grapes) or make (wine)

Other Word Forms

• nonvintage adjective
• unvintaged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vintage¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (noun), from Anglo-French, from vint(er) vintner + -age -age; replacing Middle English vendage, vindage, from Anglo-French; Old French vendange, from Latin vīndēmia “grape-gathering,” equivalent to vīn(um) “grape, wine” ( wine ) + dēm(ere) “to take from” (from dē- de- + (e)mere “to buy, obtain, take”) + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of vintage¹

C15: from Old French vendage (influenced by vintener _vintner ), from Latin vindēmia, from vīnum _wine , grape + dēmere to take away (from dē- away + emere to take)

Example Sentences

The eBay account set up with my email address was attempting to sell a vintage ceramic cat.

Read more on MarketWatch

Your local bakery almost certainly makes pies that look like they’ve been lifted from a vintage cookbook illustration.

Read more on Salon

“The opportunity to have access to a violin of this vintage is really quite rare,” Maki says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Within days of returning to Los Angeles, Disney had written a memo capturing his ideas that would ultimately appear in Disneyland, including a train, a park and an assortment of vintage shops.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Next door, lads in vintage claret and blue begin to trot out and warm up.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• wine