firewater

Etymology

A calque of a Native American language term, probably Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo (“alcohol”), from ishkodew- (“fire”) + -aaboo (“liquid”, glossed in older works as “water”). A number of other Algonquian, Siouan and Athabaskan languages also refer to whiskey with compounds that mean "fire-water" (on which basis noted Algonquianist Leonard Bloomfield even reconstructed a Proto-Algonquian word for it, *eškwete·wa·po·wi, although this cannot have existed). The motivation of the name is not entirely clear: It may refer to the “burning” feeling of ingesting high-proof alcohol, or to its flammability; alternatively, it may refer to how low-quality spirits also often included ingredients such as pepper, which burned. Non-alcohol-related senses are simply fire + water.

Why this word is great

FIREWATER — [Noun] A high-proof alcoholic beverage, especially whiskey, historically traded to or consumed by Native Americans. A calque of the Ojibwe ishkodewaaboo, from ishkodew- ("fire") + -aaboo ("liquid, water")—a term that captures both its combustive potency and its deceptive appearance. Unlike "moonshine" (which implies illicit distillation) or "liquor" (which is clinical and broad), "firewater" carries the weight of colonial exchange, a liquid weapon disguised as a commodity. It is the burn of cheap whiskey in a tin cup, the glint of a trader’s bottle under a winter sun, the slow unraveling of a people who mistook poison for ceremony—proof that some bargains are written in flames.

noun

High-proof alcoholic beverage, especially whiskey (especially in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans).“High Jack had been drinking too much rum ever since we landed in Boca. You know how an Indian is—the palefaces fixed his clock when they introduced him to firewater.”
Water for use in firefighting.“A continuously circulated firewater line supplies a deluge cooling system in each gathering center for fire containment.”
High-temperature hydraulic condensate discharged from industrial boilers.
Synonym of alkahest.