Licour

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A strong alcoholic beverage made by distilling fermented grain, fruit or other produce ; a liquid, especially the juices in which food has been cooked
2. An intoxicating spirit produced through distillation ; the watery fluid left behind when food is boiled or braised
3. Strong distilled alcohol consumed as a drink ; any fluid, particularly the stock or juices that come from cooking meat or vegetables

Etymology: Middle English "licour" (also "licor") was borrowed from Old French "licor", which came from Latin "liquor", meaning a liquid or fluid. The Latin root is related to "liquere", "to be fluid" or "to melt", and the same stem gives English "liquid" and "liquefy". The word's earliest English sense was therefore plainly physical: any moist substance, a fluid of the body, or the juice of a plant or food. Over time the meaning narrowed. "Liquor" came to mean a strong alcoholic drink, and that sense is now the dominant one in everyday speech. Older senses survive in technical contexts, such as the liquid used in a chemical process or the cooking liquid left from boiling food.

Synonyms: liquor, spirits, drink