rakija

Noun

(uncountable)

A strong distilled alcoholic beverage made from various fruits, varieties of which (such as slivovitz) are found across the Balkans and the Mediterranean. (Compare brandy.)

Origin

From Serbo-Croatian rakija/ракија, from Turkish, probably from Arabic عرق ('araq, “sweat or wine”) (as rakija or wine vapor drops are similar to drops of sweat). The exact etymology is hard to pinpoint as this word (a variant of it) is found throughout the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.