soju

Where does the word "soju" come from? It comes from Chinese shaojiu (燒酒), passing through Korean before entering English (1900s-2000s).

Soju’s story begins in Chinese: shaojiu (燒酒) meant “burned/distilled liquor.” Literally "burned liquor"; Korean soju is a Sino-Korean reading of this term (an older compound, arasoju, briefly added an Arabic-derived prefix referencing the distillation technique, but that prefix was later dropped). By medieval, the word had taken hold in Korean as soju. Sino-Korean reading of 燒酒, Korea's clear distilled spirit. It reached English by 1900s-2000s as soju. Chamisul is the world's best-selling liquor brand by volume. Today, soju means a clear, mildly alcoholic distilled spirit from Korea.

1. Stage 1 · Chinese · medieval shaojiu (燒酒) "burned/distilled liquor", literally "burned liquor"; Korean soju is a Sino-Korean reading of this term (an older compound, arasoju, briefly added an Arabic-derived prefix referencing the distillation technique, but that prefix was later dropped).
2. Stage 2 · Korean · medieval soju "a clear distilled spirit", Sino-Korean reading of 燒酒, Korea's clear distilled spirit.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1900s-2000s soju "a clear Korean distilled spirit", Chamisul is the world's best-selling liquor brand by volume.