The name “vodka” is a diminutive form of the Slavic word voda (water), interpreted as little water: root вод- (vod-) [water] + -к- (-k-) [ diminutive suffix, among other functions]) + -a [ postfix of feminine gender ].

The word “vodka” was recorded -for the first time in 1405 in the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland; at these times the word referred to medicines and cosmetics.^{[citation needed]} A number of Russian pharmaceutical lists contain the terms “vodka of bread wine” (водка хлебного вина vodka khlebnovo vina) and “vodka in half of bread wine” (водка полу хлебного вина vodka polu khlebnovo vina). As alcohol had long been used as a basis for medicines, this implies that the term vodka could be a noun derived from the verb vodit’, razvodit’ (водить, разводить), “to dilute with water”.

Bread wine was a spirit distilled from alcohol made from grain (as opposed to grape wine) and hence “vodka of bread wine” would be a water dilution of a distilled grain spirit.

While the word could be found in manuscripts and in lubok (лубок, pictures with text explaining the plot, a Russian predecessor of the comic), it began to appear in Russian dictionaries in the mid-19th century.

Another possible connection of “vodka” with “water” is the name of the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae (Latin, literally, “water of life”), which is reflected in Polish “okowita”, Ukrainian оковита, or Belarusian акавіта. (Note that whisky has a similar etymology, from the Irish/Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha/uisge-beatha.)

People in the area of vodka’s probable origin have names for vodka with roots meaning “to burn”: Polish: gorzała; Ukrainian: горілка, horilka; Belarusian: гарэлка, harelka; Slavic: arielka; Lithuanian: degtinė; Samogitian: degtėnė, is also in use, colloquially and in proverbs); Latvian: degvīns; Finnish: paloviina. In Russian during 17th and 18th century горящее вино (goryashchee vino, “burning wine”) was widely used. Compare to German “Branntwein”, Danish; brændevin; Dutch: brandewijn; Swedish: brännvin; Norwegian: brennevin (although the latter terms refer to any strong alcoholic beverage).

Another Slavic/Baltic archaic term for hard liquors was “green wine” (Russian: zelyonoye vino, Lithuanian: žalias vynas).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodka

See Also: Birthday Gifts, India Gifts, India Gift

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