Aqua vitae is an archaic term for various spirits, meaning “water of life” in Latin. It spread throughout the Roman Empire and formed the basis for many alcoholic distillations, including French brandy and Irish whiskey. Eau-de-vie and vodka also have their roots in the Latin term.
Aqua vitae is a general, somewhat archaic term for various types of spirits, although it has other distinct meanings as well. Although the term is little used today, it was commonly used in ancient times and spread throughout the Roman Empire, so that the term “aqua vitae” entered a number of different languages and formed the basis for the names of numerous alcoholics distillations. While aqua vitae is required in most English-speaking countries, such as the UK, it is typically used idiomatically and often intended to refer specifically to French brandy.
Translated from the Latin, aqua vitae literally means “water of life”, and once the term spread to various regions of the Western world, it was commonly used to refer to a particular alcoholic beverage important to that region. While the phrase has been used, at least colloquially, to refer to baptismal waters as well, it has generally been taken to refer to various forms of distilled alcoholic beverages. The traditional form of aqua vitae resulted from the distillation of wine into a stronger alcoholic beverage and was sometimes also referred to in various English texts as “wine spirits”.
This technique – the distillation of wine or a similar spirit into a stronger alcohol – is still used in the preparation of beverages such as brandy. The term spread throughout the Roman Empire, and most regions conquered by the Romans used their own variations on the Latin phrase as the basis for drinks that have survived to this day. For example, aqua vita translated into both Irish and Gaelic resulted in the native words that underlay the modern word “whisky,” which is still used to describe the distilled alcoholic beverages that remain iconic and important to those regions.
Eau-de-vie, a colorless form of brandy produced in France, is the French term for “water of life” and has its etymological roots in the ancient Latin term for distilled liquor. Similarly, vodka is a form of distilled liquor that is hugely popular around the world and finds its origins in Eastern European regions such as Russia and Poland. The name “vodka” comes from the Slavic word voda, which means “little water”. While the exact intention of this water use is somewhat disputed, it is possible that it came from a source such as the water of life, the water for life.
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