The word vodka in English was borrowed from Russian and it can be literally translated as 'little water'. It is a diminutive of the Russian word voda, which means water. In English literature, the word vodka first appeared around the late 18th century. A book of travels published in English in 1780 correctly explained that kabak in the Russian language signifies a public house for the common people to drink vodka. William Tooke glossed vodka as rectified corn-spirits in 1799. The French poet Théophile Gautier described it as a grain liquor served with meals in Poland in 1800. Another possible connection involves the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae, or water of life. This Latin term reflects in Polish akvavit, Ukrainian akvavit, Belarusian akvavit, and Scandinavian akvavit. Whiskey has a similar etymology from Irish and Scottish Gaelic uisce beatha. People in the area of vodka's probable origin have names for vodka with roots meaning to burn. In Russian during the 17th and 18th centuries, goryashchee vino, or burning wine, was widely used. German Branntwein and Danish brændevin share this linguistic root.
Polish And Russian Historical Development
The world's first written mention of the word wódka was in 1405 from Akta Grodzkie recorder of deeds. These court documents came from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At that time, the word referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetics' cleansers. The production of liquor begins in the mid-15th century with varied local traditions emerging throughout Europe. In the 16th century, the Polish word for the beverage was gorzałka, derived from the Old Polish verb gorzeć meaning to burn. The word written in Cyrillic appeared first in 1533 about a medicinal drink brought from Poland to Russia by Russian merchants. Stefan Falimierz asserted in his 1534 works on herbs that vodka could serve to increase fertility and awaken lust. Jakub Kazimierz Haur gave detailed recipes for making vodka from rye in 1693. Some Polish vodka blends go back centuries. Żubrówka dates to about the 16th century while Goldwasser comes from the early 17th century. Aged Starka vodka also originates from the 16th century. In the mid-17th century, the szlachta were granted a monopoly on producing and selling vodka in their territories. This privilege became a source of substantial profits. One of the most famous distilleries of the aristocracy was established by Elżbieta Izabela Lubomirska. It later operated under her grandson Alfred Wojciech Potocki. The Vodka Industry Museum at the park of the Potocki country estate has an original document attesting that the distillery already existed in 1784. Today it operates as Polmos Łańcut.