# Urdu/Hindi, Persian- various kinds of alcohol



## tonyspeed

The generic term for alcohol is usually sharaab.

Do we have any specific terms for wine, whiskey, rum, beer, etc ?


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## marrish

tonyspeed said:


> The generic term for alcohol is usually sharaab.
> 
> Do we have any specific terms for wine, whiskey, rum, beer, etc ?



Beer has been discussed for Urdu already (for Persian but *Urdu* has been discussed as well). For wine, there are plenty of words in Urdu. I don't think anything else than whisky or rum exists in Urdu.


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## tonyspeed

Is there a word that means wine and ONLY wine?


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## BP.

Wine could be the sharaab you assume by default default, if you look closely we're talking about the alcoholic beverage from the sacred anguur when we use that word. 
Sometimes jau as well, so it is all a bit confusing I admit.

PS: Well I don't like the extremely general word sharaab being completely assigned such a narrow context, the water from your tap is sharaab too since you can sh-r-b (drink) it!


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## UrduMedium

Don't know whether these refer to wine or other types of alcohol, but from Ghalib two names are common: _*mai *_and _*baadah*_

Then there is _*daaruu *_from Hindi and _*xamr *_from Arabic possibly also used in Urdu.


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## Qureshpor

You might need to "revisit" your Persian because "daaruu" is of Persian origins.


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## greatbear

And there is also "tharraa" (I don't know for which kind, not being well-versed in alcohols) and "taadii" (for toddy).


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## UrduMedium

QURESHPOR said:


> You might need to "revisit" your Persian because "daaruu" is of Persian origins.



Thanks, QP saahib. Unfortunately, there's not much to "revisit"  Makes sense as in dawaa darruu. As Arabic/Farsi combos are common but not Arabic/Hindi or Farsi/Hindi.


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> And there is also "tharraa" (I don't know for which kind, not being well-versed in alcohols) and "taadii" (for toddy).



H ٿهرا ठरा _ṭharā_, ठर्रा _ṭharrā_, s.m. An inferior kind of intoxicating liquor;

H تاڙي ताड़ी _tāṛī_ [S. ताली], s.f. The juice of the palmyra-tree, palm-wine, *toddy;—*


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## greatbear

QURESHPOR said:


> H ٿهرا ठरा _ṭharā_, ठर्रा _ṭharrā_, s.m. An inferior kind of intoxicating liquor;
> 
> H تاڙي ताड़ी _tāṛī_ [S. ताली], s.f. The juice of the palmyra-tree, palm-wine, *toddy;—*



Well, I do know that tharra is considered inferior, but it still doesn't answer what it is made of (in other words, why inferior), which is what I meant when I said I don't know what kind exactly it is. I also don't understand the part of the definition "intoxicating liquor"; are there non-intoxicating liquors, too?


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## Qureshpor

greatbear said:


> Well, I do know that tharra is considered inferior, but it still doesn't answer what it is made of (in other words, why inferior), which is what I meant when I said I don't know what kind exactly it is. I also don't understand the part of the definition "intoxicating liquor"; are there non-intoxicating liquors, too?



*Tharra* is locally (often illegally) brewed alcoholic drink, or moonshine; from yeast fermentation of sugarcane, or wheat husk; in regions of northern India and Pakistan, especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Nasik (Maharashtra) and Haryana.

Liquor: (Cookery) any liquid substance, esp that in which food has been cooked


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## Qureshpor

tonyspeed said:


> Is there a word that means wine and ONLY wine?



More than just a word.

haalaa (Sanskrit)

mad/madh/madhu

mai/baadah/mul/duxtar-i-raz (daughter of vine)

saHbaa/aatishiin aab = red wine

rummaanii = ruby wine

subuuH= wine drunk in the morning

xamr/bintu_3inaab (daughter of grape)


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> *Tharra* is locally (often illegally) brewed alcoholic drink, or moonshine; from yeast fermentation of sugarcane, or wheat husk; in regions of northern India and Pakistan, especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Nasik (Maharashtra) and Haryana.
> 
> Liquor: (Cookery) any liquid substance, esp that in which food has been cooked



Tharraa is indeed a concoct of inferior quality and it is used depreciatively referring to any alcoholic drink when one wishes to express disgust.


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> More than just a word.
> 
> haalaa (Sanskrit)
> 
> mad/madh/madhu
> 
> mai/baadah/mul/duxtar-i-raz (daughter of vine)
> 
> saHbaa/aatishiin aab = red wine
> 
> rummaanii = ruby wine
> 
> *subuuH= wine drunk in the morning*
> xamr/bintu_3inaab (daughter of grape)


This word is very nice, thanks for reviving it! Long time back I read it somewhere in the poetry.


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## tonyspeed

QURESHPOR said:


> madhu



Unfortunately, this word also means honey!


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## marrish

There is also _madiraa_ but this is a generic term rather than wine alone.


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## Faylasoof

As we use many Persian words here (and Arabic ones often coming via Persian into Urdu), and this is an IIL forum, I’ve opened this thread to our Persian colleaguse too! 



QURESHPOR said:


> More than just a word.
> 
> haalaa (Sanskrit)
> 
> mad/madh/madhu
> 
> mai/baadah/mul/duxtar-i-raz (daughter of vine)
> 
> *saHbaa*/aatishiin aab = red wine
> 
> rummaanii = ruby wine
> 
> *subuuH*= wine drunk in the morning
> 
> xamr/bintu_3inaab (daughter of grape)


 *I'm not aware of this spelling as I've always seen this as **صہبا** Sahbaa* *and not **سحبا* *saHbaa* *!*

*This too I’ve seen only as **صبوح** SubuuH - not **سبوح** subuuH - or as some Urdu dictionaries give SabuuH) = early morning draught. The original Arabic is SubuuH = morning draught; morning milk; milking in the morning etc.*


Apart for the terms above we also have:

_nabiiZ_ = an alcoholic drink, any fermented drink.
_bint-ul-karmah_ = daughter of the vine (similar to bint-ul-3inab mentioned above) 
_kumait _= (deep) red wine [but also a bay coloured horse and a proper boy’s name!]


Words like صہبا_ Sahbaa_, بادہ _baadah_, صبوح _SubuuH_ are used in poetry and not daily speech:

آرزوے جام ِ جمشیدی بروں سازی زِ دل
قطرہ ای نوشی اگر از جام ِ استغناے من
پر الم گردد سرم كے از خمار احتیاج
لخت ہاے دل گزك خون ِ جگر صہباے من
اثر عظیم آبادی

_aarzuu-e-jaam-e-jamshiidii buruuN saazii ze dil_
_qaTra-i nuushii agar az jaam-e-istighnaai-e-man_
_pur alam gardad saram ke az xumaar iHtiyaaj _
_laxt-haai-e-dil gazak, xuun-e-jigar Sahbaai-e-man_


_athar 3aZiim-aabaadii_




آنکھوں میں ستارے تو کئی شام سے اترے
پر دل کی اداسی نہ در و بام سے اترے

جب تک تیرے قدموں میں فروکش ہیں *صبوح کش*
ساقی خطِ بادہ لبِ جام سے اترے



*SubuuH kash* = drunkard / boozer (lit. early morning drinker)


یہ مسائل تصوف ، یہ ترا بیان غالب
تجھے ہم ولی سمجھتے جو نہ *بادہ خوار* ہوتا
غالب

_yeh masaa'il-e-taSawwuf, yeh tiraa bayaan Ghalib_
_tujhe ham walii samajhte jo nah *baadah xaar* (xwaar) hotaa_

_These mystical ideas and these expressions of yours Ghalib,_
_We'd consider you a saint had you not been a tippler!_

Ghalib

*بادہ خوار **baadah xaar* (_xwaar_) = regular wine drinker / tippler


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## Qureshpor

Faylasoof said:


> *
> I'm not aware of this spelling as I've always seen this as **صہبا** Sahbaa* *and not **سحبا* *saHbaa* *!*
> 
> *This too I’ve seen only as **صبوح** SubuuH - not **سبوح** subuuH - or as some Urdu dictionaries give SabuuH) = early morning draught. The original Arabic is SubuuH = morning draught; morning milk; milking in the morning etc.*



Faylasoof SaaHib. The "H" in "saHbaa" is a typo. I don't distinguish in Roman between se/siin/swaad (saad).


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