Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A colorless, unsweetened Greek liqueur flavored with anise.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable An anise-flavoured liqueur, popular in Greece.
  • noun countable A serving of this drink.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a Greek liquor flavored with anise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Modern Greek.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Greek ούζο (ouzo), either from Turkish üzüm ("grape") or from the Italian uso Massalia (for use in Marseille) stamped on selected silkworm cocoons exported from Tyrnavos in the 19th century, standing for "superior quality". Other: from the ancient greek word όζω - οσμή (ózo - osmí = smell) because of the strong smell of the drink.

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Examples

  • British Minister for Africa Peter Hain has spoken out strongly against the European Union's reluctance to honour its trade deal with South Africa because of disagreement over the use of the terms ouzo and grappa.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • Greece has also objected to local producers using the word ouzo which it believed was unique to that country.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • Erwin said the government was prepared to label ouzo and grappa as

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • Ray draws the heavy drapes and turns off the Ray’s Diner sign, then walks three blocks to his flat on Commonwealth Avenue, bathes, and takes a streetcar to Diana’s Grocery, a Greek restaurant, where he will meet friends and sip ouzo from a coffee cup.

    ray foreman | strange horses, ray’s diner & buddha or no buddha « poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground 2009

  • It went well with a glass of rakı, the national alcoholic beverage of Turkey, known as ouzo to the Greeks.

    What, me drunk? AYDIN 2007

  • It went well with a glass of rakı, the national alcoholic beverage of Turkey, known as ouzo to the Greeks.

    Archive 2007-06-01 AYDIN 2007

  • The right to use the names grappa, a traditional Italian distillate, and ouzo, which is Greek, are part of a wines and spirits addendum to the trade pact.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • "grappa" and "ouzo" - which the E.U. claims are for the exclusive use of its alcohol producers - could endanger implementation of the trade agreement.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1999

  • Greece is concerned about South Africa's marketing of alcoholic beverages under the name "ouzo," an anise-flavored liqueur, and may reject the dlrs 17 billion free-trade agreement, said Panayotis

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • Greece also wants similar protection for its domestic "ouzo" producers, Lowe said.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

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