# beer



## kralik

How do you say beer in your language(s)?

*Latin*:
Cerevisia
(or less common zythum)


*Czech:*
Pivo
(it is actually a noun form of verb pít - to drink)


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## Consimmer

*Malay: *Bir


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## Josh_

In Arabic the borrowed term بيرة (beera) is most commonly used, but the Arabic word for beer is جعة (ji'a).


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## Locoidiomas

*Spanish:* Cerveza. chela.


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## Setwale_Charm

* Russian:* пиво
* Estonian:* õlu


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## ivanovic77

*Portuguese: *cerveja

*Galician:* cervexa
*Catalan:* cervesa
*Basque:* garagardo

*Italian:* birra

*French:* bière


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish: *bira


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## Mjolnir

*Hebrew*: בירה (bira)


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## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch*: bier

Groetjes,

Frank


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## sokol

*German:* Bier
*Austria (dialect):* Bia

*Slavic:* pivo (I think for all Slavic languages, but anyway surely for all South Slavic and Czech plus Slovak plus Russian)

*Nordic:* öl (Swedish form; Norvegian/Danish with same pronunciation: øl)


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## AuroraCs

*Hungarian: *sör

In Europe there are four main words for _beer_. Strictly speaking, _ale_ is used in the North, _beer _in the West, _cerveza_ in the South, and _pivo_ in the East. 

Beer (bier, bière, birra, bjor, etc) probably derives from Latin bibere (to drink) or biber (a drink). The word beer is not related to the word brew.
Ale (øl, olut, etc) derives from alum. The original meaning is "bitter".
Cerveza (cerveja, sirbisi, sör, cwrw, etc) derives from the old Gaulish word for beer. In Gaul (France) itself it was replaced by bière in the 15th century.
Pivo, the word used in most Slavonic languages, derives from the old word piwwo (barley).


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## Nanon

AuroraCs said:


> Cerveza (cerveja, sirbisi, sör, cwrw, etc) derives from the old Gaulish word for beer. In Gaul (France) itself it was replaced by bière in the 15th century.


Yes, and the old French word was "cervoise". Not used anymore except in Astérix...


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## Spectre scolaire

Thanks to _AuroraCs_ for making the synopsis! Such a thing should be done regularly with this kind of compilations. Unfortunately it is hardly ever done. Congratulations with this first posting of yours! 

Greek also uses the word *μπίρα *[bíra], but a puristic word was made up: *ζύθος* [zíθos]. This word has never been in use among ordinary people, but can be seen in compound words like in words denoting ‘brewery’, ‘pub’, etc. It remains a lexical item.

It is curious to note that the puristic word [zíθos] is ultimately of Semitic origin. 
 ​


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## robbie_SWE

In Romanian it's *bere*.

 robbie


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## Outsider

AuroraCs said:


> *Hungarian: *sör
> 
> In Europe there are four main words for _beer_. Strictly speaking, _ale_ is used in the North, _beer _in the West, _cerveza_ in the South, and _pivo_ in the East.
> 
> Beer (bier, bière, birra, bjor, etc) probably derives from Latin bibere (to drink) or biber (a drink). The word beer is not related to the word brew.
> Ale (øl, olut, etc) derives from alum. The original meaning is "bitter".
> Cerveza (cerveja, sirbisi, sör, cwrw, etc) derives from the old Gaulish word for beer. In Gaul (France) itself it was replaced by bière in the 15th century.
> Pivo, the word used in most Slavonic languages, derives from the old word piwwo (barley).


You probably meant to write "broadly speaking". If I'm not mistaken, the Celtic languages also use _cerevisia_-related words. (I see that you've included Welsh _cwrw_ already.)


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## kusurija

In Lithuanian: 
Alus (group of Ale (øl, olut, etc) derives from alum.)

In Japanese: ビール(bi:ru) (group of Beer (bier, bière, birra, bjor, etc)) from English beer.


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## fazer1000

Italian: birra!


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## Nizo

Esperanto:  _biero_.


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## celestia04

Tagalog (derived from Spanish): serbesa


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## Wynn Mathieson

Irish : http://focal.ie/Search.aspx?term=beoir&lang=2beoir


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## Wilma_Sweden

sokol said:


> *German:* Bier
> *Austria (dialect):* Bia
> 
> *Slavic:* pivo (I think for all Slavic languages, but anyway surely for all South Slavic and Czech plus Slovak plus Russian)
> 
> *Nordic:* öl (Swedish form; Norvegian/Danish with same pronunciation: øl)


Bir is also used in some Swedish dialects, and we have a slang word, bira (noun) to refer to a (bottle or glass of) beer. 

What is interesting is also what hyponyms are commonly used in each language/country, i.e. specific types of beer. You can hardly walk into an English pub and ask for a beer without getting a blank stare from the barman - do you want lager, ale, bitter or stout? - while in Sweden, the follow-on question would be if you want light, medium or strong beer (referring to the alcohol content), and you'll end up with a lager unless you specify what brand you want.

/Wilma


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## Zsuzsu

Mongolian: пив (it's a Russian loanword)
Also: шар айраг (yellow koumiss) but it's less commonly used.


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## apmoy70

Spectre scolaire said:


> Greek also uses the word *μπίρα *[bíra], but a puristic word was made up: *ζύθος* [zíθos]. This word has never been in use among ordinary people, but can be seen in compound words like in words denoting ‘brewery’, ‘pub’, etc. It remains a lexical item.
> 
> It is curious to note that the puristic word [zíθos] is ultimately of Semitic origin.
> ​


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2294/agreekenglishlexiconlid.png
_(A Greek-English Lexicon, Liddell-Scott 1996)_


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## dinji

AuroraCs said:


> Ale (øl, olut, etc) derives from alum. The original meaning is "bitter".


 
Finnish _olut_ is a metal age borrrowing from Germanic _*aluþ _or from its Baltic cognate. 

Another Finnish word _kalja_, 'week beer', deriving from PreFinnic _*kali-ja_ or _*kali-ta, _is an older borrowing from PIE _*h2__eleuio_ (>Slv_.*alauja_> Old Russian _oluj_ 'beer') or from PIE _*h2__el-u-(t)_ (> Gmc. _*aluþ_, Blt/slv _*alu_). This borrowing is obviously neolitic, due to the laryngeal reflex /k-/.


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## bb3ca201

Wynn Mathieson said:


> Irish : beoir


 
Now THIS is a thread that I can get used to!  

The Scottish Gaelic word is quite different from the Irish.  We say "leann"
(as in "cha toigh leam leann" - I don't like beer)


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## Vikian

My favourite drink 
*Vietnamese* : bia


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## darlanxavier445903

*Icelandic* : bjór
*Ukrainian* : пиво


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## Pedro y La Torre

bb3ca201 said:


> Now THIS is a thread that I can get used to!
> 
> The Scottish Gaelic word is quite different from the Irish.  We say "leann"
> (as in "cha toigh leam leann" - I don't like beer)



Leann is used in Irish too, it can mean beer, or more specifically, ale.

http://www.irishdictionary.ie/dictionary?language=irish&word=leannlusanna


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## felicity09

Mexico: cerveza, chela


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## bb3ca201

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Leann is used in Irish too, it can mean beer, or more specifically, ale.


 
Go raibh maith agat! (That's the only bit of Irish I really remember!)
Tapadh leat!


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## la_machy

felicity09 said:


> Mexico: cerveza, chela


 
También: *cheve.*


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## Pedro y La Torre

bb3ca201 said:


> Go raibh maith agat! (That's the only bit of Irish I really remember!)
> Tapadh leat!



Ná habair é.


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## Miguelillo 87

In other languages spoken in Mexico: 

Náhuatl: *teixhuinotl* (it was used for corn beer but nowadays it's used for traditional and normal beer) 

Maya: *Cheba* or *seerbéesa* (as you can see both taken directly form spanish) 

And by the way mayeb a silly question but if in icelandic beer it's bjór. What does it mean bjork the name of the singer?


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## sakvaka

dinji said:


> Finnish _olut_ is a metal age borrrowing from Germanic _*aluþ _or from its Baltic cognate.
> 
> Another Finnish word _kalja_, 'week beer', deriving from PreFinnic _*kali-ja_ or _*kali-ta, _is an older borrowing from PIE _*h2__eleuio_ (>Slv_.*alauja_> Old Russian _oluj_ 'beer') or from PIE _*h2__el-u-(t)_ (> Gmc. _*aluþ_, Blt/slv _*alu_). This borrowing is obviously neolitic, due to the laryngeal reflex /k-/.


 
In spoken language _kalja_ is often used as a synonyme for _olut_, but in fact they mean different things. 

_Kalja_ (or _kotikalja_) is in Swedish _svagdricka_ (sweet drink), whereas _olut_ is _öl_.


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## HUMBERT0

la_machy said:


> También: *cheve.*


 y también *birria*.


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## Kanes

sokol said:


> *Slavic:* pivo (I think for all Slavic languages, but anyway surely for all South Slavic and Czech plus Slovak plus Russian)



In Bulgarian it is бира.


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## Miguelillo 87

HUMBERT0 said:


> y también *birria*.


 
¡Oralé primera vez que lo escucho! Aquí birria es la comida y no más, imáginate si vas a comer una birria y ¡pides una birria para tomar! 

¡¡Qué confusión! jaja


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## swift

Good morning,

In Costa Rica, they call it "birra".

Cheers,


swift


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