vintage

American  

[vin-tij] / ˈvɪn tɪdʒ /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of vintage

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

Example Sentences

After shopping, I’ll drop off my vintage finds from the flea market and check in at Lone Fox Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

The Texan artist revives the old-time western song on this appealing and historically minded album of vintage verse set to music.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Set in downtown LA, it’s an eclectic, colorful boutique hotel with vintage brick details and excellent service.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2026

It's a vintage mystery - who is dumping dozens of sauvignon blanc bottles in the lanes between two pictureseque villages?

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

They both wore short dresses, one in red polka-dot, the other lace-fringed, with the slightly faded, slightly ill-fitting look of vintage shop finds.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• wine