Wiktionary

cocktail

See also: Cocktail

English

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Etymology

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Early 17th century, from cock (“male bird”) + tail, in the sense “(a horse with its) tail standing up, like a cock’s”. The origin of the extension to “an alcoholic mixed drink” is unknown. One theory is that it refers to a simulant (gingering), hence a simulating drink; compare pick-me-up.[1] Another attested use is for non-thoroughbred racehorses: these were considered "cock-tailed" due to their docked tails. This may have led to the term "cocktail" (sense 1) being used for an adulterated spirit.[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cocktail (plural cocktails)

  1. A mixed alcoholic beverage.
    Synonyms: mixed drink, (abbreviation) ckt
    They visited a bar noted for its wide range of cocktails.
    • 1806 May 6, “Rum! Rum! Rum!”, in Balance and Columbian Repository‎[1], volume v, number 18, New York: Hudson, page 142:
      [...] a certain candidate has placed in his account of Loss and Gain, the following items:-- LOSS [...] 411 glasses bitters[,] 25 do. cock-tail
    • 1806 May 13, “Communication”, in Balance and Columbian Repository‎[2], volume v, number 19, New York: Hudson, page 146:
      Cock tail, then, is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called bittered sling, and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head.
    • 1904, Charlotte Bryson Taylor, “Chapter VI”, in In the Dwellings of the Wilderness:
      Deane opened the fray by declaring, à propos of dinners, that the only proper way to create a cocktail of the genus Martini was to add a half-spoonful of sherry after the other ingredients had been satisfactorily mixed, if at all.
    • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “Chapter 8”, in Babbitt:
      He moved majestically down to mix the cocktails. As he chipped ice, as he squeezed oranges, as he collected vast stores of bottles, glasses, and spoons at the sink in the pantry, he felt as authoritative as the bartender at Healey Hanson's saloon.
    • 2011, Mark Polonsky et al., USSR: From an Original Idea by Karl Marx, page 32:
      The cocktail in Britain is a rigidly-defined social institution: each has its own particular meaning—the G & T is the alcoholic equivalent of the interview suit; Pernod and black is an alternative to glue sniffing for repentant trendies, etc.
  2. (by extension) A mixture of other substances or things.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:hodgepodge
    Scientists found a cocktail of pollutants in the river downstream from the chemical factory.
    a cocktail of illegal drugs
    • 2013, Andrew Farmer, Managing Environmental Pollution, Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:
      Motor vehicles, for example, emit a cocktail of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulates, heavy metals and (for diesel) sulphur dioxide.
    • 2019, Eliza Hartrich, “Edward IV, the Earl of Warwick, and a Changing Urban Sector, 1461–71”, in Politics and the Urban Sector in Fifteenth-Century England, 1413–1471, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 181:
      This chapter examines how the concurrent phenomena of an assertive monarch, persistent civil war, and economic change affected the political activities of townspeople in three ways: in the relationship between the ‘urban sector’ and the English polity, in the complexion of municipal internal politics, and in the nature of urban participation in the civil wars of 1469–71. In all three of these fields, the particular cocktail of circumstances present in the 1460s encouraged a wide variety of townspeople to become invested emotionally and materially in the course of national politics, as they had not been during much of the 1450s.
    • 2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, page 38:
      Terry Gourvish, the lead author if the authorised commercial history of BR, described the new BTC structure thus: "The conclusion must be that the combination of a few undynamic railwaymen, underpaid full-timers (Commission and General Staff) and poorly-paid part-time businessmen was not a very potent managerial cocktail."
  3. A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in its veins.
    • 1868, Charles Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, volume ii, John Murray, page 11:
      A “cock-tail” is a horse not purely bred, but with only one-eighth or one-sixteenth impure blood in his veins
  4. (UK, slang, dated) A mean, half-hearted fellow.
    Synonym: coward
  5. A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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Adjective

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cocktail (comparative more cocktail, superlative most cocktail)

  1. (obsolete) Ostentatiously lacking in manners.
    • 1830, Sporting Magazine:
      It looks very cocktail to be seen riding through the streets of London in a scarlet coat ;
    • 1840, The Sporting magazine:
      The Prince had nothing particular about him but a monstrous smart whip with a gold stag for a handle, which was pronounced a very cocktail looking instrument by the Leicestershire farmers, with whom His Serene Highness is no favorite
    • 2008, Christine Kelly, Mrs Duberly's War: Journal and Letters from the Crimea, 1854-6, →ISBN:
      She always goes about with a brace of loaded revolvers in her belt!! Very cocktail and no occasion for it
    • 1875, Charles Thomas Samuel Birch Reynardson, 'Down the Road': Or, Reminiscences of a Gentleman Coachman:
      Nothing looks so cocktail and muffish on a coach as to see a man learning to catch his whip, and after many futile efforts taking it upside down for this purpose, and twisting the thong round and round with the point downwards, as if he was stirring porridge for a pack of hounds.

Verb

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cocktail (third-person singular simple present cocktails, present participle cocktailing, simple past and past participle cocktailed)

  1. (transitive) To adulterate (fuel, etc.) by mixing in other substances.
  2. (transitive) To treat (a person) to cocktails.
    He dined and cocktailed her at the most exclusive bars and restaurants.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wondrich, David (2015) Imbibe!, Penguin, →ISBN, page 214
  2. ^ “cocktail”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkɔkteːl/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: cock‧tail

Noun

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cocktail m (plural cocktails, diminutive cocktailtje n)

  1. cocktail

Derived terms

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Finnish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkoktɑi̯l/, [ˈko̞kt̪ɑ̝i̯l]
  • IPA(key): /ˈkoktei̯l/, [ˈko̞kt̪e̞i̯l]
  • Rhymes: -oktɑil
  • Hyphenation(key): cock‧tail

Noun

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cocktail

  1. cocktail (mixed drink)

Declension

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Inflection of cocktail (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative cocktail cocktailit
genitive cocktailin cocktailien
partitive cocktailia cocktaileja
illative cocktailiin cocktaileihin
singular plural
nominative cocktail cocktailit
accusative nom. cocktail cocktailit
gen. cocktailin
genitive cocktailin cocktailien
partitive cocktailia cocktaileja
inessive cocktailissa cocktaileissa
elative cocktailista cocktaileista
illative cocktailiin cocktaileihin
adessive cocktaililla cocktaileilla
ablative cocktaililta cocktaileilta
allative cocktailille cocktaileille
essive cocktailina cocktaileina
translative cocktailiksi cocktaileiksi
abessive cocktailitta cocktaileitta
instructive — cocktailein
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of cocktail (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative cocktailini cocktailini
accusative nom. cocktailini cocktailini
gen. cocktailini
genitive cocktailini cocktailieni
partitive cocktailiani cocktailejani
inessive cocktailissani cocktaileissani
elative cocktailistani cocktaileistani
illative cocktailiini cocktaileihini
adessive cocktailillani cocktaileillani
ablative cocktaililtani cocktaileiltani
allative cocktaililleni cocktaileilleni
essive cocktailinani cocktaileinani
translative cocktailikseni cocktaileikseni
abessive cocktailittani cocktaileittani
instructive — —
comitative — cocktaileineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative cocktailisi cocktailisi
accusative nom. cocktailisi cocktailisi
gen. cocktailisi
genitive cocktailisi cocktailiesi
partitive cocktailiasi cocktailejasi
inessive cocktailissasi cocktaileissasi
elative cocktailistasi cocktaileistasi
illative cocktailiisi cocktaileihisi
adessive cocktailillasi cocktaileillasi
ablative cocktaililtasi cocktaileiltasi
allative cocktailillesi cocktaileillesi
essive cocktailinasi cocktaileinasi
translative cocktailiksesi cocktaileiksesi
abessive cocktailittasi cocktaileittasi
instructive — —
comitative — cocktaileinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative cocktailimme cocktailimme
accusative nom. cocktailimme cocktailimme
gen. cocktailimme
genitive cocktailimme cocktailiemme
partitive cocktailiamme cocktailejamme
inessive cocktailissamme cocktaileissamme
elative cocktailistamme cocktaileistamme
illative cocktailiimme cocktaileihimme
adessive cocktailillamme cocktaileillamme
ablative cocktaililtamme cocktaileiltamme
allative cocktailillemme cocktaileillemme
essive cocktailinamme cocktaileinamme
translative cocktailiksemme cocktaileiksemme
abessive cocktailittamme cocktaileittamme
instructive — —
comitative — cocktaileinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative cocktailinne cocktailinne
accusative nom. cocktailinne cocktailinne
gen. cocktailinne
genitive cocktailinne cocktailienne
partitive cocktailianne cocktailejanne
inessive cocktailissanne cocktaileissanne
elative cocktailistanne cocktaileistanne
illative cocktailiinne cocktaileihinne
adessive cocktailillanne cocktaileillanne
ablative cocktaililtanne cocktaileiltanne
allative cocktailillenne cocktaileillenne
essive cocktailinanne cocktaileinanne
translative cocktailiksenne cocktaileiksenne
abessive cocktailittanne cocktaileittanne
instructive — —
comitative — cocktaileinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative cocktailinsa cocktailinsa
accusative nom. cocktailinsa cocktailinsa
gen. cocktailinsa
genitive cocktailinsa cocktailiensa
partitive cocktailiaan
cocktailiansa 		cocktailejaan
cocktailejansa
inessive cocktailissaan
cocktailissansa 		cocktaileissaan
cocktaileissansa
elative cocktailistaan
cocktailistansa 		cocktaileistaan
cocktaileistansa
illative cocktailiinsa cocktaileihinsa
adessive cocktailillaan
cocktailillansa 		cocktaileillaan
cocktaileillansa
ablative cocktaililtaan
cocktaililtansa 		cocktaileiltaan
cocktaileiltansa
allative cocktaililleen
cocktailillensa 		cocktaileilleen
cocktaileillensa
essive cocktailinaan
cocktailinansa 		cocktaileinaan
cocktaileinansa
translative cocktailikseen
cocktailiksensa 		cocktaileikseen
cocktaileiksensa
abessive cocktailittaan
cocktailittansa 		cocktaileittaan
cocktaileittansa
instructive — —
comitative — cocktaileineen
cocktaileinensa

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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compounds

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cocktail m (plural cocktails)

  1. cocktail
    • 1977 December 17, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 24, page 14:
      J’espere que vous accepteriez cette invitation extraordinaire au voyage! Si vous voulez un rapport de qualite avec un homme mur et debonnair. Je propose, au debut, des cocktails dans une ambiance elegante pour une recontre joyeuse.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (metonymically) cocktail party

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cocktail m (invariable)

  1. cocktail
  2. cocktail party

References

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  1. ^ cocktail in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From English cocktail.

Noun

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cocktail m (definite singular cocktailen, indefinite plural cocktailer, definite plural cocktailene)

  1. cocktail

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From English cocktail.

Noun

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cocktail m (definite singular cocktailen, indefinite plural cocktailar, definite plural cocktailane)

  1. cocktail

References

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Romanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English cocktail or French cocktail.

Noun

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cocktail n (plural cocktailuri)

  1. cocktail

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative cocktail cocktailul cocktailuri cocktailurile
genitive-dative cocktail cocktailului cocktailuri cocktailurilor
vocative cocktailule cocktailurilor

Spanish

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Noun

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cocktail m (plural cocktails or cocktail)

  1. Alternative spelling of cóctel

Swedish

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Wikipedia sv
 
en cocktail (sense 1)
 
en räkcocktail (sense 2)

Etymology

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Borrowed from English cocktail. First attested in 1847.

Noun

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cocktail c

  2. a cocktail (mixed alcoholic drink)
    blanda en cocktail
    mix a cocktail
  4. a cocktail (dish)
    räkcocktail
    shrimp cocktail
  5. (figuratively) a cocktail (mix)
    en cocktail av läkemedel
    a cocktail of drugs

Declension

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Declension of cocktail
nominative genitive
singular indefinite cocktail cocktails
definite cocktailen cocktailens
plural indefinite cocktails, cocktailar cocktails, cocktailars
definite cocktailarna cocktailarnas

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cocktail

  1. cocktail

See also

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Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=cocktail&oldid=82725948"
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