(slĭvˈə-vĭts)
noun A dry colorless plum brandy.
Word History: Though colorless, slivovitz is a brandy or schnapps made from bluish plums. The Slavic word for plum is
sliva, which is related to Latin
līvidus, “bluish, bruise-colored,” from which we get
livid, a word synonomous with our
black-and-blue when used to describe the discoloration caused by a bruise. The Indo-European root
*sleiə-, “bluish,” from which the Slavic and the Latin words are descended, has another descendant in English associated with alcohol,
sloe, the name of a small sour plum of a dark purplish color. Many who have never seen this type of plum have tasted it in
sloe gin, which is flavored with sloes.
