Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A strong clear Scandinavian liquor distilled from potato or grain mash and flavored with caraway seed.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a Scandinavian liquor usually flavored with caroway seeds; -- also called akvavit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A Scandinavian liquor that is 40% alcohol and distilled from potato or grain mash. Also called akvavit.
  • noun A Polish, Ukrainian, or Russian drink that is a precursor or variant of vodka. Also called okovita.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Scandinavian liquor usually flavored with caraway seeds

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian akvavit, from Medieval Latin aqua vītae, highly distilled spirits : Latin aqua, water; see aqua + Latin vītae, genitive of vīta, life; see vital.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin aqua vitae ("spirits")

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  • A dry spirit of Scandinavia made from redistilled grain or potato alcohol and usually flavored with caraway seeds.

    February 25, 2007