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vodka

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vodka¹

  • /ˈvɒdkə/
  • /ˈvɑdkə/ US

Rhymes with -ɒdkə

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), from вода́ (vodá, “water”) + -ка (-ka, “-let: forming diminutives”). The archaic Russian name for vodka was хле́бное вино́ (xlébnoje vinó, “grain wine”); V. Pokhlyobkin's research suggests the present name derived from expressions concerning the dilution of the initial pure distilled spirit such as "vodka of grain wine".

Cognates include Sanskrit उदक (udaka), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) → English hydro-, English whisky and English water.

noun vodkas · vodki · vodky

  1. countable, uncountable A clear distilled alcoholic liquor made from grain mash. Eurydice pointed to the cupboard, and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor. She was quite white. Elsa made her drink a glass of vodka.
  2. countable, uncountable A serving of the above beverage. You should mutter sullenly into your glass, cursing the serving woman (Witch! Hag! Poison!) or the vodka (Poison! Bitch!), as the one pours you another glass of the other.
  3. countable, uncountable Neutral spirits distilled (or treated after distillation) so as to have no distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.
  4. countable, ethnic, slang, slur A Russian.
  5. slang, uncountable Russian language.

Vodka²

noun Vodkas

  1. Alternative letter-case form of vodka (“Russian”).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: martini, bottle, drink, absolut, booze, spirit, liquor, samogon, horilka, gorilka, vodki, moonshine, firewater, stolichnaya, aquavit, kvass

Translations

Every language

noun clear distilled alcoholic liquor

Españolvodka
한국어보드카 bodeuka
日本語ウォッカ wokka, ヴォートカ vōtoka, ヴォッカ vokka
中文伏特加酒 fútèjiājiǔ, 伏特加 fútèjiā, 白酒 báijiǔ
हिन्दीवोदका vodkā, वोडका voḍkā, बोदका bodkā
Kiswahilivodka
Portuguêsvodca, vodka
Françaisvodka
DeutschWodka
Italianovodka
Ελληνικάβότκα vótka
Românăvodcă
Русскийво́дка vódka, гори́лка gorílka
Tiếng Việtvodka, vôtca, rượu vôtca, rượu vodka
العربيةفُودْكَا vodkā, فُودْكَا fūdkā
עבריתווֹדְקָה vódka

noun serving

Españolvodka
Ελληνικάβότκα vótka
Русскийво́дка vódka

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MLA

"vodka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vodka. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

vodka. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vodka

Chicago

"vodka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vodka.

BibTeX
@misc{vodka_2026,
  title = {vodka},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vodka},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}