VINEGAR

vinegar, acetum

(noun) sour-tasting liquid produced usually by oxidation of the alcohol in wine or cider and used as a condiment or food preservative

vinegar

(noun) dilute acetic acid

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

vinegar (countable and uncountable, plural vinegars)

(uncountable) A sour liquid formed by the fermentation of alcohol used as a condiment or preservative; a dilute solution of acetic acid.

(countable) Any variety of vinegar.

Verb

vinegar (third-person singular simple present vinegars, present participle vinegaring, simple past and past participle vinegared)

(transitive) To season or otherwise treat with vinegar.

Anagrams

• Ginevra, Ingrave, avering, ingrave, reaving, vaginer

Source: Wiktionary


Vin"e*gar, n. Etym: [OE. vinegre, F. vinaigre; vin wine (L. vinum) + aigre sour. See Wine, and Eager, a.]

1. A sour liquid used as a condiment, or as a preservative, and obtained by the spontaneous (acetous) fermentation, or by the artificial oxidation, of wine, cider, beer, or the like.

Note: The characteristic sourness of vinegar is due to acetic acid, of which it contains from three to five per cent. Wine vinegar contains also tartaric acid, citric acid, etc.

2. Hence, anything sour; -- used also metaphorically. Here's the challenge: . . . I warrant there's vinegar and pepper in't. Shak. Aromatic vinegar, strong acetic acid highly flavored with aromatic substances.

– Mother of vinegar. See 4th Mother.

– Radical vinegar, acetic acid.

– Thieves' vinegar. See under Thief.

– Vinegar eel (Zoöl.), a minute nematode worm (Leptodera oxophila, or Anguillula acetiglutinis), commonly found in great numbers in vinegar, sour paste, and other fermenting vegetable substances; -- called also vinegar worm.

– Vinegar lamp (Chem.), a fanciful name of an apparatus designed to oxidize alcohol to acetic acid by means of platinum.

– Vinegar plant. See 4th Mother.

– Vinegar tree (Bot.), the stag-horn sumac (Rhus typhina), whose acid berries have been used to intensify the sourness of vinegar.

– Wood vinegar. See under Wood.

Vin"e*gar, v. t.

Definition: To convert into vinegar; to make like vinegar; to render sour or sharp. [Obs.] Hoping that he hath vinegared his senses As he was bid. B. Jonson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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