spirituous C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities Also spelled spiritous US /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəs/ UK /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj containing or having the qualities of distilled alcohol The tavern sold ales, wines, and stronger spirituous liquors. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · containing or having the... alcoholicintoxicatingardentstrong ↔ Opposites nonalcoholic Word family Related forms spiritspirits Etymology AI details From French spiritueux or directly from Latin spiritus ('breath, spirit', and in distillation 'volatile essence') + -ous. spiritus Latin spirare Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # spirituous **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəs/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəs/ ## Meanings 1. containing or having the qualities of distilled alcohol ## Examples - The tavern sold ales, wines, and stronger spirituous liquors. ## Synonyms - alcoholic - intoxicating - ardent - strong ## Antonyms - nonalcoholic ## Related Forms - spirit - spirits ## Roots and Affixes - Root: spiritus - Root: spirare ## Etymology From French spiritueux or directly from Latin spiritus ('breath, spirit', and in distillation 'volatile essence') + -ous. ## AI Etymology Spirituous comes from French spiritueux or directly from Latin spiritus ('breath, spirit', and in distillation 'volatile essence') + -ous. The historical chain includes Latin spiritus and Latin spirare. Older glosses in the chain include "breath, spirit" and "volatile essence", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, spirituous is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "containing or having the qualities of distilled alcohol". related forms include spirit and spirits. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown