vinegar

Where does the word "vinegar" come from? It comes from Old French vin aigre, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Vinegar’s story begins in Old French: vin aigre meant “sour wine.” Literally sour wine, describing wine that has fermented past drinking. It reached English by 1300s as vinegar. Run together into a single English word for the sour liquid. Today, vinegar means a sour liquid made from fermented alcohol, used in cooking and preserving.

1. Stage 1 · Old French · medieval vin aigre "sour wine", literally sour wine, describing wine that has fermented past drinking.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s vinegar "a sour liquid used in cooking and preserving", run together into a single English word for the sour liquid.