beverage definition

English beverage definition

Alternative forms

• beveridge (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English beverage, from Old French beverage, variant of bevrage, from beivre (“to drink”), variant of boivre (“to drink”), from Latin bibō. Related to imbibe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛv(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

beverage (countable and uncountable, plural beverages)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) A liquid to consume; a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water.
   • 1748, James Thomson, “Canto II”, in The Castle of Indolence: […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, stanza VII, page 44:

     He knew no Beverage but the flowing Stream; / His taſteful well-earn'd Food the ſilvan Game, […]

   • 1848, J. S. Skinner & Son, editor, The Plough, The Loom and the Anvil‎^[1], volume I, Philadelphia: J. S. Skinner & Son, page 137:

     [W]here coffee is used as a constant beverage, the gravel and the gout are scarcely known.

2. (Britain, slang, archaic) (A gift of) drink money.

Usage notes

More elevated than plainer drink. Beverage is of French origin, while drink is of Old English origin, and this stylistic difference by origin is common; see list of English words with dual French and Anglo-Saxon variations.

Synonyms

• drink

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:beverage

Derived terms

Related terms

• bever

Translations

References

• Drink on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “beverage”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “beverage”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Middle English beverage definition

Alternative forms

• berage, berrage, berygge, bevereche, beveredg, beverege, beverich, beveriche

Etymology

From Old French beverage, variant of bevrage; equivalent to bever +‎ -age. For forms such as berage, compare Middle French berage, variant of breuvage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛvəˈraːd͡ʒ(ə)/, /ˈbɛvərad͡ʒ(ə)/

Noun

beverage (plural beverages)

1. An (alcoholic) beverage or beverages.
2. Such a beverage used to close negotiations; said negotiations in themselves.
3. Hardship, pain, torment; events that are hard to handle.

Descendants

• English: beverage
• Scots: beverage, baiverage

References

• “beverāǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-08.

Old French beverage definition

Noun

beverage m (oblique plural beverages, nominative singular beverages, nominative plural beverage)

1. Alternative form of bevrage