Likker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A strong alcoholic drink such as whiskey or gin ; the juice or broth that food releases or is cooked in
2. Distilled spirits served for drinking, often in dialect or informal speech ; the liquid left from boiling or stewing food
3. An intoxicating beverage made by distillation ; the stock or juices collected from cooking meat, fish, or vegetables

Etymology: "Likker" is not a separate word at all but a deliberate misspelling of "liquor," written to capture how the word sounds in certain regional and informal speech. Eye dialect, as linguists call this kind of spelling, uses nonstandard letters to suggest a pronunciation, so the spelling carries a tone of rustic or casual talk rather than a new meaning. The word it imitates goes back to Latin "liquor," meaning fluidity or a liquid, from the verb "liquere," to be fluid. That root is shared with "liquid," which is why the two words look so alike. English took the word through Anglo-Norman and Middle English as "licour," and it originally covered any liquid, not just alcoholic drink. Its sense narrowed over time to strong alcoholic beverages, which is the meaning the spoken "likker" usually carries today. "Liqueur," a sweetened spirit, is a doublet of the same word, entering English from French and keeping a closer resemblance to the Latin source.

Synonyms: liquor, alcohol, spirits