cachaca

Where does the word "cachaca" come from? It comes from Brazilian Portuguese cachaça, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).

Cachaca’s story begins in Brazilian Portuguese: cachaça meant “sugar-cane spirit.” First distilled from fermented cane juice on the sugar plantations of Pernambuco and Bahia; the word's origin is disputed, possibly an Iberian term for wine dregs or cane froth. It reached English by 1900s as cachaça. Brazil's Decree 4,062 of 2001 reserves the name for spirit made in Brazil, and in 2013 the US agreed to recognise it as a distinct Brazilian product instead of 'Brazilian rum'. Today, cachaca means a Brazilian spirit distilled from fermented sugar-cane juice.

1. Stage 1 · Brazilian Portuguese · 1500s cachaça "sugar-cane spirit", first distilled from fermented cane juice on the sugar plantations of Pernambuco and Bahia; the word's origin is disputed, possibly an Iberian term for wine dregs or cane froth.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1900s cachaça "Brazilian cane spirit", Brazil's Decree 4,062 of 2001 reserves the name for spirit made in Brazil, and in 2013 the US agreed to recognise it as a distinct Brazilian product instead of 'Brazilian rum'.