vinegar

B2 Topic:Materials & Substances

Also spelled winegar

US /ˈvɪnəɡɚ/ UK /ˈvɪnəɡə/ See IPA manual

Freq #11359

Meanings

1

noun
A sour liquid made from fermented alcohol, used to flavour or preserve food.

She added a splash of vinegar to the salad dressing.
2

noun
A particular type or flavour of vinegar.

The shop sells a range of herb-flavoured vinegars.
3

verb
To season or treat something with vinegar.

They vinegared the fish before serving it.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sour liquid made from... acetum

Word family

Forms vinegars

Derived forms sugar-vinegarvinegar-eelvinegar-fieldvinegar-flyvinegar-plantvinegar-railingvinegar-treevinegar-yardvinegarettevinegarishvinegaristvinegarrette

Related forms vinagrousvinaigrettevinaigrousvinegaroonvinegarroon

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cider vinegar
vinegar produced from fermented apple cider

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Simplified etymology

Vinegar entered English in the Middle English period via Old French vyn egre, from Latin vinus acer, “sour wine.” It belongs to the word family traced to Latin vinum, “wine.”

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y-? Proto-Indo-European *-ō? Proto-Indo-European *wéyh₁ō Proto-Italic *wīnom Latin vīnum Old French vin Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós Proto-Italic *akris Classical Latin ācer Late Latin ācrus Old French aigre Old French vinaigrebor. Middle English vynegre English vinegar From Middle English vynegre, from Old French vinaigre from Old French vyn egre, based on Latin vīnum (“wine”) + Latin ācer (“sour”). Displaced Old English æċed (survived in Middle English eced).

*h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European vynegre Middle English vinaigre Old French vyn egre Old French vīnum Latin ācer Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# vinegar

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈvɪnəɡɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈvɪnəɡə/
**Frequency rank:** 11359

## Meanings
1. A sour liquid made from fermented alcohol, used to flavour or preserve food.
2. A particular type or flavour of vinegar.
3. To season or treat something with vinegar.

## Examples
- She added a splash of vinegar to the salad dressing.
- The shop sells a range of herb-flavoured vinegars.
- They vinegared the fish before serving it.

## Derived Forms
- sugar-vinegar
- vinegar-eel
- vinegar-field
- vinegar-fly
- vinegar-plant
- vinegar-railing
- vinegar-tree
- vinegar-yard
- vinegarette
- vinegarish
- vinegarist
- vinegarrette

## Related Forms
- vinagrous
- vinaigrette
- vinaigrous
- vinegaroon
- vinegarroon

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂eḱ-
- Root: vynegre
- Root: vinaigre
- Root: vyn egre
- Root: vīnum
- Root: ācer

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y-? Proto-Indo-European *-ō? Proto-Indo-European *wéyh₁ō Proto-Italic *wīnom Latin vīnum Old French vin Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós Proto-Italic *akris Classical Latin ācer Late Latin ācrus Old French aigre Old French vinaigrebor. Middle English vynegre English vinegar From Middle English vynegre, from Old French vinaigre from Old French vyn egre, based on Latin vīnum (“wine”) + Latin ācer (“sour”). Displaced Old English æċed (survived in Middle English eced).

## AI Etymology
Vinegar: The etymological chain runs Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y-? -> Proto-Indo-European *-ō? -> Proto-Indo-European *wéyh₁ō -> Proto-Italic *wīnom -> Latin vīnum -> Old French vin -> Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- -> Proto-Indo-European *-rós -> Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós -> Proto-Italic *akris -> Classical Latin ācer -> Late Latin ācrus -> Old French aigre -> Old French vinaigre -> Middle English vynegre -> English vinegar. From Middle English vynegre, from Old French vinaigre from Old French vyn egre, based on Latin vīnum (“wine”) + Latin ācer (“sour”). Displaced Old English æċed (survived in Middle English eced). In present-day use, it can mean a sour liquid made from fermented alcohol, used to flavour or preserve food, or a particular type or flavour of vinegar.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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