Aqua vitae
concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol
Aqua vitae (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a strong aqueous solution of ethanol. These terms could also be applied to weak ethanol without rectification. Usage was widespread during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, although its origin is likely much earlier. This Latin term appears in a wide array of dialectical forms throughout all lands and people conquered by ancient Rome. The term is a generic name for all types of distillates, and eventually came to refer specifically to distillates of alcoholic beverages (liquors).
Aqua vitae was typically prepared by distilling wine and in English texts was also called ardent spirits, spirit of wine, or spirits of wine, a name that could be applied to brandy that had been repeatedly distilled.
The term was used by the 14th-century alchemist John of Rupescissa, who believed the then newly discovered substance of ethanol was an imperishable and life-giving "fifth essence" or quintessence, and who extensively studied its medical properties.
Aqua vitae was often an etymological source of terms applied to important locally produced distilled spirits. Examples include whiskey (from the Irish uisce beatha), eau de vie in France, acquavite in Italy, akvavit and akkevit in Scandinavia, okowita in Poland, оковита (okovyta) in Ukraine, акавіта (akavita) in Belarus, and яковита (yakovita) in southern Russian dialects.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aqua vitae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.