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Glite Dictionary
rakija

rakija

1 9.9
A strong alcoholic drink from the Balkans made from fruit like plums or grapes
  • noun
  • /rɑˈkiːjɑ/
: rakija
  • At the local festival, everyone gathered to celebrate with homemade rakija and traditional dances.

Examples

  • Yusuf fled to the market, bought a flask of rakija, and sat down to drink hard at midday.

  • We followed the departing crowd and the trail of gypsy music toward the center of town and found a crowd of people around a huge, bubbling hot cauldron of rakija, a brandy that is the country's national beverage of choice.

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  • Nada pours us more coffee and rakija as we enjoy our afternoon.

Synonyms

brandy
vsrakija
84 2.7

A strong alcoholic drink made from wine or fruit juice and often aged in wood

is a Balkan fruit distillate not typically defined by wooden ageing
raki
vsrakija
1 9.3

A strong alcoholic drink made from grapes, plums, or other fruit

is the same Balkan fruit distillate but a different regional name

Antonyms

nonalcoholic
5 2.5

A drink or product that does not contain alcohol

How Strong

vodka
284 1.3
rakija
1 9.9
brandy
84 2.7
wine
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

rakija singular
rakije plural

Etymology

Rakija comes from the Arabic word araq, which means 'sweat' and was used for the liquid that 'sweats' out when a drink is distilled, then became Turkish raki and later the Balkan rakija. So, rakija today is a strong distilled drink, often made from plums or grapes, and the name remembers the liquid that comes out during distilling.