bolcane

Etymology

From Fingallian bolcane, from Irish bolcán (“spirits, strong drink”). Doublet of volcano and Vulcan.

Why this word is great

BOLCANE — [Noun] Spirits; alcoholic drink; poteen. From Fingallian bolcane, from Irish bolcán ("spirits, strong drink"), ultimately a doublet of volcano and Vulcan via Latin Vulcānus ("Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking"). Unlike poteen (illicit Irish whiskey, coiled in secrecy) or uisce beatha (the reverent "water of life"), bolcane is blunt, unadorned: the burn of raw spirits in a tin cup, the reek of a still hidden in peat smoke, the way a man might drink alone in a dim-lit kitchen, chasing warmth that never stays. Fire borrowed, fire wasted.

noun

  1. Spirits; alcoholic drink; poteen.“Sheela at her Prayers, and Nabla at her Sneezing, Dermot at his Beads, and Rory at his Bolcane and Usquebah”