vermouth

views updated May 23 2018

vermouth Fortified wine (about 16% alcohol by volume) flavoured with herbs and quinine. French vermouth is dry and colourless; Italian may be red or white and is sweet. Drunk as an aperitif, either with soda or with gin or vodka (a martini). Name originally derived from German Wermut for wormwood, a toxic ingredient that was included in early vermouths (see absinthe). Sweet or Italian vermouth, 15–17% alcohol (by volume), 12–20% sugar (by weight). Dry or French type, 18–20% alcohol, 3–5% sugar.

vermouth

views updated Jun 08 2018

ver·mouth / vərˈmoō[unvoicedth]/ • n. a red or white wine flavored with aromatic herbs, chiefly made in France and Italy and drunk mixed with gin.

vermouth

views updated May 23 2018

vermouth white wine flavoured with wormwood, etc. XIX. — F. vermout — G. wermut (see WORMWOOD), with assim. to the early G. sp. wermuth.