▪ I. vinegar, n.
(ˈvɪnɪgə(r))
Forms: α. 4–6 vynegre (4 fyn-), 5–6 vynagre, 6 -ygre; 4–7 vinegre (5 uin-, win-, 6 winnegre), 7 vin'gre; 5 venagre, 5–7 venegre; 5 vyneygre, -aygre, 7 vinaigre. β. 5–6 vyneger, 6 -egyr, vynyger; 5–7 vineger (7 -ere, vinneger), 6–7 viniger (7 win-); 5 venegur, 6 -eger; 5, 7 vinager, 7 vinaiger, 5–6 vineager. γ. 6 vynegar, 6– vinegar (8 ven-). δ. 4 vynacre, 5, 7 vinacre, 7 vinaicre; 6 vinycare, vinyker, vyneker, venyker, -iker, Sc. vinakir, venaker, wynakar, -akir, 7 Sc. winiker.
[a. OF. vyn egre (14th cent.), vinaigre (so mod.F.), f. vin:—L. vīnum wine + egre, aigre eager a. Cf. Pr. vina(i)gre, Sp. and Pg. vinagre, It. vinagro. Some of the spellings are influenced by the later F. form, or by mod.L. vinum acre.]
1. a. A liquid (consisting of acetic acid in a dilute form) produced by the acetous fermentation of wine and some other alcoholic liquors or special compounds and employed either pure or with various admixtures in the preparation of food (or as a relish to this) and in the arts, etc.
The chief sources of vinegar are indicated by the names wine-, malt-, sugar-, and wood-vinegar. radical vinegar: see radical a. 9. thieves' vinegar: see thief 5.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 13 Vinegre & gall þe jews blend And to his mouth put þore. c 1315 Shoreham i. 829 Al so longe hyt hys blod, Ase lest þe forme of wyne, Nauȝt of fynegre kende [= kind] chald. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 70 Venim.., or vinegre, I trouwe, Walleþ in my wombe. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 Þe Iuyse of celidone y-medled wiþ vinegre and warmed at þe fire. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xiv. 37 Flessh, benes, salt and vynaygre. a 1500 Bale's Chron. in Six Town Chron. (1911) 118 Powles steple was sodenly on fire..but it was holpen and quenched w{supt} venegre. 1502 Arnolde Chron. a iij b/1 To make winnegre shortly if nede be. 1552 Huloet, Vynygre, and honye sodden together, oxymeli. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 2 Let the same..put a litle vinegre thereto. 1662 Charleton Myst. Vintners (1675) 164 Of which we have an instance in the making of Vinegre. a 1699 J. Beaumont Psyche (1702) ix. 81 A flood, to which most fretful Vinaigre [1648 Vinaiger] Is gentle Oile. |
| β c 1408 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 52 In vinager et cepis emptis. 1409 Ibid. 53 In j quart de vineger empt. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 6 Goode wyne schalle turne to venegur be dene. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxviii. 105 (Harl. MS.), Vyneger was gode,..wyn is gode,..and muste shalle be gode. 1502 Arnolde Chron. 72 b/1 To make veneger shortli if [ye] haue nede. 1539 Elyot Cast. Helthe 22 Olyues..dothe corroborate the stomake..being eaten with vyneger. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 133 Vineger to coole the Ordinance. 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 20 The king calls for winiger to his sallet, because his sweet meate should haue sower sauce. 1612 Webster White Devil iv. iii. 105 Best wine Dying makes strongest vinneger. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Passions iii, Since Love by mixing Poyson there, Has made it worse than Vinegere. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. 189 Spirit of Vinager being try'd after the same manner, exhibited a moderate number of bubbles. |
| γ 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 148 Hard Cheese wrapped in cloutes wet in Vinegar..returne to a softnesse. 1596 Lodge Wits Miserie M, One cast his paile of water at his head, another his oile, another his vinegar. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 11 Vinegar I utterly mislike. 1652 in Gross Gild Merchant (1890) I. 133 In buying and selling a can of vinegar. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 138 As heav'ns blest beam turns vinegar more sowre. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 93 If it be drenched nine times in vinegar, it makes a fine eye-salve. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 109 They ought..to keep the patient very clean, to sprinkle the room where he lies with vinegar, or other strong acids. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 386 Vinegar appears to have little or no effect upon iron, unless assisted by the air. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 1033 The weaker the wine or the beer.., the more readily it is converted into vinegar. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 241/1 All sources of alcohol may be regarded as possible materials for making vinegar. |
| δ a 1400 in Rel. Ant. I. 196 Seeth the rote in vynacre of wyne. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 88 Vinacre,..j hoggshed. c 1500 Kennedy Passion of Christ 963 Intill wynakar þai soupit it full sone. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 41 Thay suld..giff to hime vinakir and gal to drink. 1583 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 8 A querte of vinycare, iiij{supd}. 1583–4 Ibid. 16 For foure quartes of veniker, xvj{supd}. 1586 Ibid. 26 A gallon of vyneker, xvj{supd}. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 44 The water of the wisemen, the philosophers vinacre, the minerall water. 1691 in Hawick Archæol. Soc. Trans. (1905) 13/2 I[tem] for osters and winiker, brandi and spis, [{pstlg}]0. 6. 0. |
| fig. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1693) 59 To stoop this Vinacre to the very Lees; some will say [etc.]. |
† b. ellipt. The accidental conversion of wine into vinegar.
Obs.—1| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xii. xiv. (1886) 201 A charme against vineager. That wine wax not eager, write on the vessell [etc.]. |
c. With
a and
pl. A particular kind, or special preparation, of vinegar.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 13 The fallacy of trusting to the hydrometer for determining the strength of vinegars. 1875 H. C. Wood Therap. (1879) 18 Vinegars are those preparations in which vinegar, or dilute acetic acid, is used as the menstruum. |
2. In allusive use:
a. With reference to the painful or harsh effect of vinegar on a wound, or on the teeth (after
Prov. x. 26).
| 1548 Udall Erasmus Par. Mark ii. 20 He that put in the vinegre of sorowe, dyd also giue him the oyle of good hope. 1590 Nashe Mart. Marprel. Wks. (Grosart) I. 224 It is vineger to his teeth, and maketh him very sawcie, with his g. of Cant. 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. iii. xii, To qualify with oyle The soule-afflicting vin'gre of his toyle. 1656 in Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §109 Our desire is..not to pour Vineger but Oyl into the wounds. |
b. With reference to Hannibal's use of vinegar in making his way over the Alps, according to Livy xxi. 37 (
cf. Juvenal x. 153).
Cf. the quotation for
vinegar-railing in 6.
| 1636 Quarles Elegie Wks. (Grosart) III. 11/1 We cut our way Through these our Alpine griefes, and sadly rise With the sharp vinegre of suffused eyes. 1776 in Boswell Johnson 12 Apr., Davies said of a well-known dramatick authour, that ‘he..made his way as Hannibal did, by vinegar; having begun by attacking people’. 1779 Warner in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 108 The Alps of your difficulties subside before you, and without vinegar. |
3. fig. Speech, temper, etc., of a sour or acid character. (
Cf. 5 b.)
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 158 Heere's the Challenge, reade it: I warrant there's vinegar and pepper in't. 1681 Crowne Hen. VI, Prol., A little Vineger against the Pope. 1848 Dickens Dombey xlii, Mrs. Pipchin..freshened the domestics with several little sprinklings of wordy vinegar. 1873 [see verjuice n. 2]. |
† b. In the
phr. to wish one at vinegar.
Obs.—1| 1774 Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) III. 73 He will soon do something, and play some prank, which I dare say his uncle will wish him at vinegar for. |
4. slang. (See
quots.)
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Vinegar, a Cloak. 1725 New Cant. Dict., Vinegar,..the Fellow that makes a Ring, and keeps Order among Wrestlers, Cudgel-Players, &c. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T., Vinegar, a name given to the person, who with a whip in his hand, and a hat held before his eyes, keeps the ring clear at boxing matches and cudgel playings. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib., as
vinegar-bottle (also
fig.),
vinegar-cask,
vinegar-cruet (also
fig.),
vinegar-manufactory,
vinegar-pot,
vinegar-poultice,
vinegar-powder,
vinegar-work,
vinegar-yeast;
obj. genitive, as
vinegar-drawer,
vinegar-maker,
vinegar-making; also
vinegar-flavoured,
vinegar-tart adjs.| 1459 Paston Lett. I. 490 Item, j. *venegre botell. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. To Rdr., It will bee some of their destinies to carrie the vineger bottle ere they die. 1602 2nd Pt. Return Parnass. i. ii. 1 What Ingenioso, carrying a Vinegar bottle about thee, like a great schole-boy giuing the world a bloudy nose? 1706 Stevens Span. Dict. i, Vinagrera, a Vinegar-bottle, or Cruit. |
| 1837 L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. II. 850 In some country districts, the people keep..a *vinegar cask, into which they pour such wine as they wish to acetify. |
| 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5086/3 A Sett of Casters with *Vinegar Crewets. 1744 Parsons in Phil. Trans. XLIII. 187 A little Piece of Camphire, exactly shaped like a common Vinegar-Crewet, having a round Bottom, and a long taper Neck. 1851 H. Melville Whale xvii, Mrs. Hussey soon appeared with a mustard-pot in one hand and a vinegar-cruet in the other. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sketch-Bk. 113 A morose, narrow-minded, hide-bound set of vinegar-cruets. |
| a 1704 T. Brown Laconics Wks. 1711 IV. 12 He is a *Vinegar-drawer. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 158 *Vinegre dregs are knowne to be verie good for to heale burnes. |
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xiii. ¶18 A *vinegar-flavoured vintage of Parnassus. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Vinaigrier,..a *Vineger glasse, violl, or bottle. |
| Ibid., Vinaigrier, a Vineger-man, or *Vineger-maker. 1697 Lond. Gaz. No. 3283/3 All Malsters.., Brewers,..Victuallers, and Vinegar-makers. 1723 Ibid. No. 6134/4 John Gregory,..Distiller and Vinegar-maker. 1853 Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 905 This axiom cannot be too strongly inculcated into the minds of vinegar-makers. |
| 1862 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (ed. 2) 60 In the ordinary process of *vinegar-making from sugar and water. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Vinaigrier, a *Vineger-man, or Vineger-maker. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1278 *Vinegar manufactory, by malt. 1842 Penny Mag. 29 Oct. 425/1 The vinegar-manufactories are but few in number. |
| 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 448 A *vinegar pot, oil pot, and sugar box. |
| 1854 Mayne Expos. Lex., Cataplasma Aceti,..the *vinegar poultice; made of vinegar and bread crumb, or the like. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., A sort of *Vinegar-powder, or Vinegar in a dry form. |
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 307 Let none of these scumme of the suburbs, be too *vinegar tarte with mee. 1608 [Tofte] Ariosto's Sat. iv. (1611) 53 A viniger tart looke or clowdy brow. |
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Rape, The Rape is..put into a Place to sour itself, before it is cast into the *Vinegar Vessel. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 3 When new vessels are mounted in a *vinegar work, they must be one third filled with the best vinegar that can be procured. |
| Ibid. 2 Several azotized substances serve as re-agents towards the acetous fermentation,—such as vinegar ready-made, *vinegar-yeast, or lees. |
b. Attrib., in the sense ‘extremely sour in temper or disposition’; also in combs., as
vinegar-faced,
vinegar-hearted adjs.| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 54 Other of such vineger aspect, That they'll not shew their teeth in way of smile. 1597 Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. 165 Such barmy heads wil alwaies be working, when as sad vineger wittes sit souring at the bottome of a barrell. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 28 The Commons nothing mortified with these tart and vinacre expressions [of the king], kept close to their proper stations. 1662 Rump Songs (1874) I. 161 From a vinegar Priest on a Crab-tree stock,..Libera nos. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. iii. 11 More grum, vinegar-fac'd,..than any kind whatsoever in the whole Island. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xxix, The habitual vinegar expression of his long triangular visage. 1842 Miall in Nonconf. II. 145 A peevish and vinegar-hearted step-mother. 1846 De Quincey Orthogr. Mutineers Wks. 1860 XIV. 108 He was too vinegar a fellow for them; nothing hearty or genial about him. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights ii, Vinegar-faced Joseph projected his head from a round window of the barn. 1850 Mrs. Carlyle New Lett. (1903) II. 13 You may fancy the vinegar looks of the Lady of the House and the visitors whom I had kept from their dinner one mortal hour. |
6. Special
Combs.:
† vinegar beer, ? beer employed for conversion into vinegar;
vinegar Bible (see
quots.);
vinegar-eel, a minute nematoid worm (
Anguillula aceti) breeding in vinegar;
vinegar-field = vinegar-yard;
vinegar-fly, a fruit-fly,
Drosophila melanogaster;
cf. drosophila;
vinegar mother = vinegar-plant (b);
vinegar-plant, (
a) the Virginian sumach,
Rhus typhina; (
b) a mould which grows on the surface of liquids undergoing acetous fermentation;
vinegar-railing fig., bitter abuse;
vinegar stick, a sword or walking-stick with a vinaigrette (sense 3) fitted into the handle (now
Hist.); also
transf.;
vinegar-tree = vinegar-plant (a);
vinegar worm = vinegar-eel;
vinegar-yard, a yard or open space in which vinegar-casks are arranged.
| 1677 Act 29 Chas. II, c. 2, For every Barrell of Beere commonly called *Vineger beere brewed or made to be sold, Six pence. |
| 1834 Lowndes Bibliogr. Man. I. 180 A most magnificent edition, called ‘The *Vinegar Bible’, from an error in the running title at St. Luke, chap. xxii, where it is read ‘the parable of the vinegar’, instead of ‘the parable of the vineyard’. 1868 Macray Annals Bodl. Lib. 147 Baskett, the printer, presented to the Library a magnificent copy on vellum of the ‘Vinegar’ Bible, printed by him in 1717. |
| 1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. II. 113/2 The Anguillula aceti, or common *Vinegar-eel. |
| 1842 Penny Mag. 29 Oct. 426/2 Behind the store-house..is the *vinegar-field, a remarkable feature in most vinegar-works. |
| 1902 L. O. Howard Insect Bk. 185 They are also called ‘*vinegar flies’, from the fact that their..larvae are frequently found in canned fruits and pickles which have been imperfectly sealed. 1937 Discovery Sept. 282/2 There is a type of cockroach found in vinegar breweries, at least two kinds of vinegar fly, and..the vinegar eel. 1979 P. L. G. Bateman Household Pests ii. 19 The tiny red-eyed fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, is one of several species associated with fermenting liquids or rotting fruit. They are also known as wine flies, yeast flies or vinegar flies. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 2 The Germans call it the *vinegar mother, as it serves to excite acetification in fresh liquors. 1853 Ibid. (ed. 4) I. 1 In the vinegar of wine..there appears a peculiar mould-plant, belonging to the genus Mycoderma Pers.; which is usually called vinegar mother. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 228/1 The..Virginian sumach, or *vinegar plant, grows naturally in almost every part of North America. 1857 Henfrey Bot. §637 Flocculent or gelatinous masses, constituting the curious object called the Vinegar-plant. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1217/1 The exact mode in which the Vinegar-plant operates on the solution is not known. |
| 1609 Dekker Gull's Horn-bk. Wks. (Grosart) II. 203 Though, with Hanniball, you bring whole hogs-heads of *vinegar-railings, it is impossible for you to quench or come ouer my Alpine-resolution. |
| 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 129/2 *Vinegar stick, a stilletto; a long bladed knife; a sword. 1968 Canadian Antiques Collector Nov. 21/1 The forerunner of the vinaigrette was the vinegar stick, a walking stick with a hollow head for a vinegar⁓soaked sponge. 1979 ‘J. Gash’ Grail Tree vi. 60 You get them in all shapes, even as ‘vinegar sticks’, where the container is cleverly made into the handle of a sword or walking-stick. |
| 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1350/2 *Vinegar-tree, Rhus typhina. |
| 1896 tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 163 Anguillula aceti, the *Vinegar worm, lives in sour paste and in vinegar. |
| 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3893/4 A Distilling-house, Brew-house, and *Vinegar-yard. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Vinegar-yard, a place where vinegar is exposed to season. |
▪ II. vinegar, v. (
ˈvɪnɪgə(r))
[f. prec.] trans. To treat with vinegar in some way; to add or apply vinegar to; to restore by means of vinegar. Also
fig. Hence
ˈvinegaring vbl. n.| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. v, Then, to her Cuz, Hoping, that he hath vinegard his senses, As he was bid, the Faery Queene dispenses, By me this Robe. 1721 Cibber Rival Fools v, Ev'n forgive her all... No, faith! I must crab her, she must be vinegar'd! 1804 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) I. 89 Where I should be detained, quarantined, smoked, and vinegared. 1831 Bentham Memorandum-Bk. Wks. 1843 XI. 73 You do as you do by a cucumber, when you cut it into slips to be eaten, when it has been peppered, salted, and vinegared. 1837 Dickens Pickw. x, The landlady..proceeded to vinegar the forehead, beat the hands, titillate the nose, and unlace the stays of the spinster aunt. 1841 ― Barn. Rudge xix, After..much damping of foreheads, and vinegaring of temples, and hartshorning of noses, and so forth. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 18 Feb. 2/1 Aurora rose and thrust a smelling-bottle under his nose, tapped his hands, vinegared him. |