# Alcoholic Beverage



## Flaminius

What is the general term for an alcoholic beverage in the language(s) you know?  What I would like to know is not spirit (distilled beverage) or drink (confusing) but a general term in its own right.

*Japanese:*
sake
酒

English (and maybe a lot other Western languages) has incorporated this as a word for fermented alcohol made from rice but, as a Japanese word, it includes wine, beer, whisky, _sake_ and any other beverages with alcohol.


----------



## IkHouVanPulcino

In *Italian* the general term for that is *Bevande Alcoliche* 

Simona


----------



## Setwale_Charm

In Russian it is *алкогольный напиток*
 which is made on the basis of *спирт* - spirits


----------



## elroy

In Arabic we have كحول (_kuHuul_). The word _alcohol_ and its equivalent in many languages come from the definite form of this word (_al-kuHuul_). Note that this word is plural.

For the singular we normally just say مشروب (_mashruub_), which literally means "drink" but is not used for non-alcoholic drinks. However, if you really want to be specific you could say مشروب مسكر (_mashruub muskir_), which literally means "inebriating beverage."


----------



## Ilmo

In *Finnish* there is no that kind of general term covering everything from beer to distilled spirits - they are simply called with the name *alkoholijuoma,* that is "alcoholic beverage". However, in everyday speech, especially when speaking about the reasons of someone's failure or misdeeds (misdemeanor), they are sometimes called with a common name* viina, *that means actually "clear distilled spirits", that is "aquavitae".


----------



## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish: **Alkollü içecek *and usually just *içki
*


----------



## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch*: 
alcoholische drank

Groetjes,

Frank


----------



## Henryk

In German, one speaks of "alkoholische Getränke" or "Alkoholika" (the latter is rather rarely used though).


----------



## gao_yixing

In Chinese, it is the same as Japanese.
酒（jiǔ)


----------



## parakseno

The general Romanian term for alcoholic beverages is: "băuturi alcoolice" ("băutură alcoolică" in the singular). "Alcool" can be used also as a general term.

Greek has (according to my book)

αλκοόλ (το) - alcohol
οινοπνευματώδη ποτά (τα) - alcoholic beverages where "ο οίνος" - /o *i*nos/ means wine (though it's more of an Ancient Greek term (οἶνος), the modern and more commonly used term for wine is "το κρασί") and "το πνεύμα" means among other things "breath".


----------



## cherine

elroy said:


> In Arabic we have كحول (_kuHuul_). The word _alcohol_ and its equivalent in many languages come from the definite form of this word (_al-kuHuul_). Note that this word is plural.


I have to disagree  .
The Arabic word englobing all alcoholic beverages is خمر khamr (kh=castillan j). In colloquial Arabic of Egypt we say khamra خمرة . An alcoholic person is a "mudmin khamr" مدمن خمر .
And the word ku7ull is, to my knowledge, a singular word. The collective word from it is ku7ulliyyat كحوليات which literaly means "alcoholic beverages".


----------



## hellosweetie

Thai - เครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์

hope it helps


----------



## linguist786

In Urdu we say* دار* (daaru). It's the same in Hindi (*दारू*) and also the same in Gujarati (*દારૂ*) for all types of alcholic beverages.

We use شراب (sharaab) to mean alcohol in general, which comes from Arabic. Strangely though, _sharaab_ in Arabic just means _drink_ but in Urdu/Hindi it specifically means _alcohol_.


----------



## Chazzwozzer

linguist786 said:


> We use شراب (sharaab) to mean alcohol in general, which comes from Arabic. Strangely though, _sharaab_ in Arabic just means _drink_ but in Urdu/Hindi it specifically means _alcohol_.


And in Turkish, *şarap *just means _wine_!


----------



## Qcumber

In the answers I have read so far, forumites do not seem to make the difference between a distilled alcoholic beverage like *brandy* and a fermented alcoholic beverage like *wine*. Perhaps you could use the following template:

language: Arabic
*brandy:* 3araq 
عرق
from dates: tamr 
تمر
*wine:* xamr 
خمر
from grapes: 3inab 
عنب


----------



## Qcumber

Language: *Tagálog* (Philippines)
Brandy: *lambanóg*
distilled _tubâ_
Wine: *tubâ* [tu'ba?]
fermented sap of the coconut tree: niyóg
sometimes flavoured with barks


----------



## olaf

In Slovene we say pijaca ( generaly drink, all drinks) like let's have a drink-" gremo na pijaco" , in croatian as in serbian that would be alkoholno pice, in Icelandic a'fengur drikkur.


----------



## Maja

olaf said:


> ... in croatian as in serbian that would bealkoholno pice ...


Just a little correction: alkoholno piće (алкохолно пиће)


----------



## olaf

Sorry Maja !

Mea Culpa!


----------



## Tolovaj_Mataj

olaf said:


> In Slovene we say pijaca ( generaly drink, all drinks) like let's have a drink-" gremo na pijaco" , in croatian as in serbian that would be alkoholno pice, in Icelandic a'fengur drikkur.


Olaf,
pijača = drink, bevarage
but if we talk about alcoholic bevarage, we use the term *alkoholna pijača*. (soft drink = nealkoholna pijača)


----------



## Thomas1

In Polish we say: *napoje alkoholowe*. It's in plural as we most often use it in this number, sigular is _napój alkoholowy_.


elroy said:


> In Arabic we have كحول (_kuHuul_). The word _alcohol_ and its equivalent in many languages come from the definite form of this word (_al-kuHuul_). Note that this word is plural.


Thanks for this info; I've just checked that and my dictionary says that _alkohol_ comes from _al-kuhl_ (don't know why but it does give the version with no _u_s after _h_)which means _fine powder_ (literal translation) and then it was used euphemistically for alcohol. Does it still have this meaning?


Tom


----------



## elroy

cherine said:


> I have to disagree  .
> The Arabic word englobing all alcoholic beverages is خمر khamr (kh=castillan j). In colloquial Arabic of Egypt we say khamra خمرة . An alcoholic person is a "mudmin khamr" مدمن خمر .


 I had forgotten about خمر (In Palestinian Arabic we also say خمرة) but I think كحول also works.


> And the word ku7ull is, to my knowledge, a singular word. The collective word from it is ku7ulliyyat كحوليات which literaly means "alcoholic beverages".


 Are you sure?  I thought كحول was the plural of كحل! 


Thomas1 said:


> Thanks for this info; I've just checked that and my dictionary says that _alkohol_ comes from _al-kuhl_ (don't know why but it does give the version with no _u_s after _h_)which means _fine powder_ (literal translation) and then it was used euphemistically for alcohol. Does it still have this meaning?


 Well, _al-kuhl_ is singular and _al-kuhuul_ is plural (although apparently Cherine disagrees with that ). As far as I know the singular _kuhl_ is no longer used to refer to alcohol but to the actual powder, and nowadays also to cosmetic products that contain the powder (which I think is antimony). The plural _kuhuul_ is, however, still used to refer to alcohol.


----------



## kimchi39

In Korean,

술


----------



## roh3x2n

Persian
It would aabe jow for beverage. 
Alkuhul an Arabic Origin word which would be used also in Persian.
Perhabs it would be aabe jow alkuhul daar.


----------



## Outsider

In Portuguese:

_bebida alcoólica_ "alcoholic beverage" - formal.
_bebida_ "drink" - informal, normally used with the same meaning as the former expression.
_álcool_ "alcohol" - formal. Used in phrases like "drinking is an addiction", and so on.


----------



## mPike

As in Finland, there is no word which assembles all alcoholic beverages in Sweden. Some translations:

alkoholhaltig dryck - alcoholc beverage

sprit - spirits

vin - wine

öl - beer


----------



## Flaminius

kimchi39 said:


> In Korean,
> 
> 술


Could you provide transliteration?  I am also curious if this word is indigenous Korean or a loan from Chinese.


----------



## parakseno

Flaminius said:


> Could you provide transliteration?  I am also curious if this word is indigenous Korean or a loan from Chinese.



I think 술 would be rendered as "sul" (or "sur").


----------



## tatis

Bebida alcohólica (Español)


----------



## Nezquirc

mPike said:


> As in Finland, there is no word which assembles all alcoholic beverages in Sweden. Some translations:
> 
> alkoholhaltig dryck - alcoholc beverage
> 
> sprit - spirits
> 
> vin - wine
> 
> öl - beer



However, when referring to all alcoholic beverages, or alcoholic beverages in general, just the word "alkohol" is most commonly used (in newspapers etc.). The term "alkoholhaltiga drycker" is very bureaucratic or "old"-sounding.


----------



## elroy

parakseno said:


> I think 술 would be rendered as "sul" (or "sur").


 It would be "sul."


----------



## cherine

elroy said:


> Are you sure?  I thought كحول was the plural of كحل!


I've never thought of it -nor learned it- this way, but you may very well be right.
And I think we (in Egypt) pronounce it in a different way: ku7ull, not ku7uul. I think the pronounciation explains, in a way, why we take it as singular and you as plural.


> Well, _al-kuhl_ is singular and _al-kuhuul_ is plural (although apparently Cherine disagrees with that ). As far as I know the singular _kuhl_ is no longer used to refer to alcohol but to the actual powder, and nowadays also to cosmetic products that contain the powder (which I think is antimony).


Exactly (this is why I disagreed) 
The word kuhl/ku7l كُحل for us -Egyptians- refers to the cosmetic product that's almost equivalent to the current days' eyeliners.
We pronounce كحول as ku7ull, so it sounds singular. And, more important, we don't associate it with the word kuhl/ku7l.


----------



## K.u.r.t

Czech:
alkoholické nápoje (alcoholic beverages)
or
chlast (derog.)


----------



## elroy

cherine said:


> I've never thought of it -nor learned it- this way, but you may very well be right.
> And I think we (in Egypt) pronounce it in a different way: ku7ull, not ku7uul. I think the pronounciation explains, in a way, why we take it as singular and you as plural.


 Yes, it does. I would have never expected that you would pronounce the word this way, though. What does it mean to you? 


> The word kuhl/ku7l كُحل for us -Egyptians- refers to the cosmetic product that's almost equivalent to the current days' eyeliners.


 Same for us. 

The difference seems to be that we pronounce كحول _ku7uul_ and use it to refer to alcohol (in the plural), whereas you pronounce it _ku7ull_ and use it to refer to _____.


----------



## Josh_

In my experience I have only heard the pronunciation of kuHuul in Egyptian, but I can understand a pronunciation of kuHull as the long 'uu' or 'oo' combined with an 'l' sound sometimes lends itself to shortening.  Sometimes if I pronounce abu 'l-hool fast the 'oo' gets shortened.

Anyway, I agree with Cherine that kuHuul is the singular and the plural is kuHuulaat.  Maybe it's one of those  أخطاء شائعة (common errors) to consider it plural as the fu3uul pattern is generally a plural pattern, or maybe it used to be the plural and is no longer used, as Elroy alluded to previously.


----------



## elroy

Josh Adkins said:


> Maybe it's one of those أخطاء شائعة (common errors) to consider it plural as the fu3uul pattern is generally a plural pattern, or maybe it used to be the plural and is no longer used, as Elroy alluded to previously.


 Perhaps it is a common error, but I just want to clarify that what I said was no longer used is the word *كحل* to refer to alcohol.  Today it is a cosmetic term.


----------



## cherine

elroy said:


> Yes, it does. I would have never expected that you would pronounce the word this way, though. What does it mean to you?
> [...]The difference seems to be that we pronounce كحول _ku7uul_ and use it to refer to alcohol (in the plural), whereas you pronounce it _ku7ull_ and use it to refer to _____.


It refers to alcohol as a singular word. We don't say that someone is "beyeshrab ko7oll" بيشرب كحول it would sound strange, we say بيشرب خمرة .
The word ku7ull/ko7oll is mostly used in chemistry-relate topics, even by non-scholars.


Josh Adkins said:


> In my experience I have only heard the pronunciation of kuHuul in Egyptian


Me, never.


> but I can understand a pronunciation of kuHull as the long 'uu' or 'oo' combined with an 'l' sound sometimes lends itself to shortening. Sometimes if I pronounce abu 'l-hool fast the 'oo' gets shortened.


No, the second vowel is short not long. We write it long, but pronounce it short, as if it were a Damma not a madd bil-waaw, and then the laam is mushaddada.



> Anyway, I agree with Cherine that kuHuul is the singular and the plural is kuHuulaat.


It's ku7ulliyyat كحوليات  . But it's obvious there's a slight difference in pronounciation and usage.



elroy said:


> Perhaps it is a common error, but I just want to clarify that what I said was no longer used is the word *كحل* to refer to alcohol. Today it is a cosmetic term.


Same here.


----------



## francophone

Also spirits: mashrubat rawheya 
مشروبات روحية

It's not used in normal talks, I'd be joking if I used it. A valid translation still.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

As far as I know, the only word in Bolivian Quechua is _chicha_, which is made from fermented corn (maize).  Words for other alcoholic drinks were borrowed from Spanish, at least in my community.

Incidentally, in many areas the corn is not ground, but chewed by the women.  Their saliva reputedly enhances the flavour and quality of the chicha.


----------



## imbay

In thai
Alcoholic beverage = เครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ ( krêuang dèum aen-gor-hor )


----------



## VirtuousV

Flaminius said:


> Could you provide transliteration?  I am also curious if this word is indigenous Korean or a loan from Chinese.



술 (Sul) is a native word. The Chinese letter 酒 is pronounced 주 (Ju) in Korean, and it is not used alone, but only in conjunction with other letter(s), like in 燒酒 소주 (Soju).


----------



## John-Paul

We're going to have a "borrel" after work. Or after church, a quick coffee and then a borrel (usually Dutch gin with a spoonful of sugar - to make it go down easier). It's an odd word, it's from "borrelen", which refers to the bubbling of carbon gas, in sodawater for instance. Nowadays it's a recreational act.


----------



## Spectre scolaire

I found the discussion between _elroy_, _cherine_ and _Josh Adkins_ extremely interesting! 

Here, I’d just like to make a comment on some Turkish words that have already been alluded to:




			
				elroy said:
			
		

> For the singular we normally just say





			
				elroy said:
			
		

> مشروب (_mashruub_), which literally means "drink" but is not used for non-alcoholic drinks.





			
				Chazzwozzer said:
			
		

> Turkish: Alkollü içecek and usually just içki


In Turkish *meşrubat* means _exclusively_ “non-alcoholic drinks” - the singular of this word is not being used in Turkish. The Arabic word in Turkish means in fact the opposite of what it does in Arabic!

The neologism *içecek* (which is made up with the Turkish verbal stem iç=, “to drink”) was meant to replace the Arabic loanword ‘meşrubat’, but it has not really succeeded in doing so – at least not completely.

Turkish uses *içki* to denote an “alcoholic beverage” and _never_ a non-alcoholic one. This word is also a neologism produced with the same verbal stem iç=. 

Because of what is said above, the term “alkollü içecek” (cf. _Chazzwozzer_) seems entirely superfluous, and indeed a sort of oxymoron: “alcoholic non-alcoholic drink”. If it is registered in official Turkish dictionaries, the TDK (Türk Dil Kurumu) should think twice. This term probably emerged during the transition period between grassroot words and words coined by official Turkish linguistic purism. 




			
				parakseno said:
			
		

> οινοπνευματώδη ποτά (τα) - alcoholic beverages


It is a crux that this Greek word is equally a neologism; οινόπνευμα is a _calque_ from French ‘esprit-de-vin’, and the ending is a non-vernacular classicizing -ώδης. (Even ποτό – here in plural – is a neologism!) Before this “monstrosity” of a word was coined, ordinary people probably used σπίρτο (from Italian spirito), a word which was still in use in Greek dialects in the 1930s. Today, σπίρτο means a “match” [to light a cigarette, f.ex.].

Greek also has τσίπουρο to denote a “strong alcoholic drink”. The origin of this word is probably _Turkic_ (not specifically _Turkish_). The word might have “travelled” through Romania. τσίπουρο is not very common nowadays; it has been replaced by names of specific drinks which do not belong to this thread.


----------



## Chazzwozzer

Spectre scolaire said:


> Because of what is said above, the term “alkollü içecek” (cf. _Chazzwozzer_) seems entirely superfluous, and indeed a sort of oxymoron: “alcoholic non-alcoholic drink”.


*İçecek* is a generic name used to describe any liquid that can be drunk. It doesn't necesserily have to mean that the beverage must not contain alcohol.

Again, *alkollü içecek* literally means _alcholoic beverage_, not _alcoholic non-alcoholic drink_.


----------



## Spectre scolaire

Following up _Chazzwozzer's_ comment:

If *içecek* means “any liquid that can be drunk” – including alcoholic beverages! – then, does Turkish have a word for “soft drinks”? Since you don’t mention *me**şrubat*, and *içecek* has to be supplied with *alkollü* to mean “alcoholic drink” (which in turn is catered for by *içki*), I can only see one reason why *içecek* alone, according to you, means “any liquid that can be drunk”: From a purely formalistic approach to the verbal noun *içecek*, a form which indicates _possibility_, this word cannot assume a conventional semantic status similar to *me**şrubat* (which it incidentally already has in today’s Turkish!) – because alcohol can also be drunk... 

But language does not function in this way! If *içecek* has acquired a clear-cut semantic niche in which it is about to replace *me**şrubat*, why should we then try to “dilute its content”, so to say, _with alcohol_?...

I have always considered Turkish (as it has developed during the last five or six decades or so) as a precise instrument of thought. If some native speakers think otherwise, it is tempting to ask whether they have any idea about what sort of development this language has been through since Ottoman times. Most Turks don’t – because they cannot read Ottoman Turkish and thus make a comparison! Andrew Mango has given the following characteristic of this officialese: “A euphonious and euphuistic idiom, where Arabic abstract nouns crowd together in alliterative groups of synonyms to raise the emotional tone rather than to clarify the meaning.”

Your beating the bush is a step backwards in terms of language precision. Personally, I don’t care if *me**şrubat* wins the “battle” over *içecek* or not, but since you seemed to make an implicit point in establishing a dichotomy *içecek* versus *içki* – the first necessarily “non-alcoholic” if stripped of its French-Turkish adjective *alkollü* – I thought you’d be appreciating my criticism of a “superfluous compound”. I was wrong.


----------



## Chazzwozzer

Spectre scolaire said:


> Following up _Chazzwozzer's_ comment:
> 
> If *içecek* means “any liquid that can be drunk” – including alcoholic beverages! – then, does Turkish have a word for “soft drinks”?


Yes, Spectre scolaire, Turkish has a word for soft drinks; *meşrubat*, or as my Turkish-English dictionary tells: *alkolsüz içki.*



Spectre scolaire said:


> Since you don’t mention *me**şrubat*


which is because the thread is about alcoholic bereage...



Spectre scolaire said:


> and *içecek* has to be supplied with *alkollü* to mean “alcoholic drink” (which in turn is catered for by *içki*),


Right, just like English *"alcoholic bevreage"*



Spectre scolaire said:


> I can only see one reason why *içecek* alone, according to you, means “any liquid that can be drunk”: From a purely formalistic approach to the verbal noun *içecek*, a form which indicates _possibility_, this word cannot assume a conventional semantic status similar to *me**şrubat* (which it incidentally already has in today’s Turkish!) – because alcohol can also be drunk...


Like I've said, no one ever uses "meşrubat" to refer to any alcoholic beverage, but soft drinks.

You can call beer as içki or (alkollü) içecek, but never as meşrubat.




Spectre scolaire said:


> If *içecek* has acquired a clear-cut semantic niche in which it is about to replace *me**şrubat*, why should we then try to “dilute its content”, so to say, _with alcohol_?...


Even if *içecek *was coined to replace with meşrubat, it now refers to any kind of drinkable liquid, whereas meşrubat is used to refer to soft drinks.



Spectre scolaire said:


> Since you seemed to make an implicit point in establishing a dichotomy *içecek* versus *içki* – the first necessarily “non-alcoholic” if stripped of its French-Turkish adjective *alkollü* – I thought you’d be appreciating my criticism of a “superfluous compound”. I was wrong.


I didn't imply anything, I indicated.

*What I'm saying is clear:*
*
İçki* is just a subgroup of *içecek*. They are not two different types, you see.

Your translation of *alkollü içecek* as _alcoholic non-alcoholic drink _is simply wrong, as içecek does not necesserily mean non-alcoholic drink.


----------



## moonshine

In Tagalog (Filipino), we refer to wines and liquor as *alak*. Although _*alkohol *_would also be acceptable, the word is mostly used to refer to the antiseptic alcohol (isoprophyl/ethyl) so it's better to use the former.


----------



## alisha_miss_world

bwasson alkolik in mauritian creole


----------



## el_conquistador

WINE
danish- vin
dutch- wijn, wijnkleurig
french- vin, lie-de-vin, bordeaux
german- Wein, Weinrot
spanish and italian- vino
portugues- vinho

BEER
danish - øl
dutch - bier, gerstenat 
french - bière
german - Bier
italian - birra
spanish -cerveza
portuguese -  cerveja
swedish -  öl, maltdryck


moonshine said:


> In Tagalog (Filipino), we refer to wines and liquor as *alak*. Although _*alkohol *_would also be acceptable, the word is mostly used to refer to the antiseptic alcohol (isoprophyl/ethyl) so it's better to use the former.


or kung salitang kanto, we simply say "toma" (i think in spanish, "tomar" means to take) for example:  yo voy tomar un cafe con leche (I;m going to take a coffee with milk (or white coffee)


----------



## Qcumber

moonshine said:


> In Tagalog (Filipino), we refer to wines and liquor as *alak*. Although _*alkohol *_would also be acceptable, the word is mostly used to refer to the antiseptic alcohol (isoprophyl/ethyl) so it's better to use the former.


Tagalog álak "liquor"  comes from Arabic through Malay:
Arabic 3araq [¿araq] عرق > Malay árak ارق > Tagalog álak.


----------



## jhemono

Hello,
In French we would say "boisson alcoolisée" the formal way.
In Breton, a regional language from western France, we would say "died alkoolek" the formal way.


----------



## Sorcha

In Irish we say 'deoch', though literally it means drink its usually in reference to an alcoholic drink, other non alcoholic drinks are usually specified.
uisce beatha = whiskey (this word originates from Irish)
beor = beer
feol = wine (i cant remember if this is the right word)


----------



## Abbassupreme

In Persian, the terms araq, mashrub, and nushidani ye alkoli (the third one probably not in common usage, but meaning "Alcoholic Beverage")

Sharaab is the Persian term for wine

Aab e joh is the Persian word for beer

And, of course, there's probably more.

Oh, and the term "mashrubaat" sounds familiar, and it looks like it's the plural form of "mashrub" (still retaining its Arabic meaning), so that term is probably used, as well.

The interesting thing is, though, that araq also is used to mean "sweat." I don't know what the original Arabic meaning for the word was, but in Persian it is used to mean both "sweat" and "alcoholic beverage"!


----------



## panjabigator

linguist786 said:


> We use شراب (sharaab) to mean alcohol in general, which comes from Arabic. Strangely though, _sharaab_ in Arabic just means _drink_ but in Urdu/Hindi it specifically means _alcohol_.


Same in Panjabi.


Abbassupreme said:


> Aab e joh is the Persian word for beer


What does "joh" mean?  Is aab-e-joh literally the water or x?


----------



## zaigucis

*Latvian:* alkoholisks dzēriens or alkohols and of course different slang words.


----------



## gatogab

bebida alcoholica en español


----------



## Abbassupreme

panjabigator said:


> What does "joh" mean? Is aab-e-joh literally the water or x?


 
Aab - Water
Joh - Wheat (?) I'm not sure . . . perhaps barley. Yeah, it probably does mean barley.  That would make sense, since we have a soup called "supe joh", which is apparently make of barley.  Wheat would be "gandom" in Persian.


----------



## Pivra

imbay said:


> In thai
> Alcoholic beverage = เครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ ( krêuang dèum aen-gor-hor )


 
 Which is a more colloq. way of saying it. (actually its written Aelkohol in Thai).  

สุรา (Sura) is the official way of saying it.


----------



## Nizo

In *Esperanto*, you can say _alkoholaĵo_ or _alkohola trinkaĵo_ or even _drinkaĵo_.  All refer to an alcoholic beverage. A soft drink may be referred to as a _refreŝigaĵo_.


----------



## apmoy70

parakseno said:


> ...
> Greek has (according to my book)
> 
> αλκοόλ (το) - alcohol
> οινοπνευματώδη ποτά (τα) - alcoholic beverages where "ο οίνος" - /o *i*nos/ means wine (though it's more of an Ancient Greek term (οἶνος), the modern and more commonly used term for wine is "το κρασί") and "το πνεύμα" means among other things "breath".


Well the name *«οινόπνευμα»* [iˈnopnevma] (neut.) for _alcohol_, is a MoGr noun (constructed in 1831) calqued for the Fr. esprit-de-vin and it's preferred to *«αλκοόλη»* [alkoˈoli] (fem.) or *«αλκοόλ»* [alkoˈol] (neut.) --> _alcohol_ in the vernacular. 
Even on the label of plastic bottles with rubbing alcohol one reads «οινόπνευμα» instead of «αλκοόλη/αλκοόλ».

Alternatively we also use *«αλκοολούχα ποτά»* [alko.oˈluxa poˈta] (both neut. nom. pl.) --> _alcoholic drinks/beverages_ but it's not so common.


----------



## franknagy

Hungarian:
Official: "szeszes ital" <- spirit+drink.
Vulgar: "pia".


----------

