vodka

See also: водка

English

Various bottles of vodka

Alternative forms

• vodki, vodky (colloquial, nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), from вода́ (vodá, “water”) + -ка (-ka, “-let: forming diminutives”). The archaic Russian name for vodka was хле́бное вино́ (xlébnoje vinó, “grain wine”); V. Pokhlyobkin's research suggests the present name derived from expressions concerning the dilution of the initial pure distilled spirit such as "vodka of grain wine".

Cognates include Sanskrit उदक (udaka), Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) → English hydro-, English whisky and English water.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɒdkə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɑdkə/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /vɔ~o.kɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɒdkə, (Indic, also) -əʊdkə

Noun

vodka (countable and uncountable, plural vodkas)

2. A clear distilled alcoholic liquor made from grain mash.
   • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 20, in Friday's Business‎^[2]:

     Eurydice pointed to the cupboard, and sat down on the low divan with folded hands, and looked at the floor. She was quite white. Elsa made her drink a glass of vodka.

   • 2007 June 27, Rob Willey, “A Bit of History, Reborn in a Glass”, in The New York Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 10 June 2021:

     At Vessel, in Seattle, the bar manager, Jamie Boudreau, starts his cherry bitters by combining separate bourbon- and rye-based infusions with a touch of honey-flavored vodka and the Italian digestif amaro.

3. A serving of the above beverage.
   • 1986, Marc Polonsky, Russell Taylor, USSR, From an Original Idea by Karl Marx, Faber and Faber, →ISBN:

     You should mutter sullenly into your glass, cursing the serving woman (Witch! Hag! Poison!) or the vodka (Poison! Bitch!), as the one pours you another glass of the other.

4. (US standards of identity) Neutral spirits distilled (or treated after distillation) so as to have no distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color.
5. (countable, military slang, ethnic slur) A Russian.
6. (uncountable, military slang) Russian language.

Derived terms

• caipivodka
• penne alla vodka
• Scotchka
• vodka beetle
• vodka cran
• vodkaholic
• vodkaless
• vodkalike
• vodka luge
• vodka sauce
• vodkatini
• vodka tonic

Descendants

• → Cebuano: bodka
• → Welsh: fodca

Translations

clear distilled alcoholic liquor

• Adyghe: аркъ (arq)
• Afrikaans: wodka
• Albanian: vodkë (sq) f
• Arabic: فُودْكَا f (vodkā), فُودْكَا f (fūdkā)

  Hijazi Arabic: ڤودكا f (vōdka)

• Armenian: օղի (hy) (ōġi), արաղ (hy) (araġ) (colloquial)
• Asturian: vodca (ast) m
• Avar: гӏаракъи (ʻaraqxʼi)
• Azerbaijani: araq (az), vodka (az)
• Bashkir: араҡы (araqı)
• Basque: vodka
• Belarusian: гарэ́лка f (harélka), во́дка f (vódka)
• Bengali: ভদকা (bn) (bhodoka)
• Bulgarian: во́дка (bg) f (vódka)
• Burmese: ဗော့ဒ်ကာ (my) (baud.ka)
• Carpathian Rusyn: пали́нка f (palýnka)
• Catalan: vodka (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 伏特加酒 (fuk⁶ dak⁶ gaa¹ zau²), 伏特加 (fuk⁶ dak⁶ gaa¹)

  Mandarin: 伏特加酒 (fútèjiājiǔ), 伏特加 (zh) (fútèjiā), 白酒 (zh) (báijiǔ)

• Chuvash: водка (vodka)
• Cornish: vodka m
• Czech: vodka (cs) f
• Danish: vodka c
• Dutch: wodka (nl) m
• Esperanto: vodko (eo)
• Estonian: viin (et), vodka (et) (uncommon)
• Finnish: viina (fi), paloviina (fi), votka (fi), vodka (fi), brenkku (fi), (colloquial)
• French: vodka (fr) f
• Galician: vodka
• Georgian: არაყი (ka) (araq̇i), (obsolete) იყი (ka) (iq̇i)
• German: Wodka (de) m

  Central Franconian: Wodka

• Greek: βότκα (el) f (vótka)
• Gujarati: વોડકા (voḍkā)
• Hebrew: ווֹדְקָה (he) f (vodka)
• Hindi: वोदका f (vodkā), वोडका f (voḍkā), बोदका (hi) f (bodkā)
• Hungarian: vodka (hu)
• Icelandic: vodka (is) f
• Indonesian: vodka (id)
• Ingrian: votka
• Ingush: къаракъ (qʼaraqʼ)
• Irish: vodca m
• Italian: vodka (it) f
• Japanese: ウォッカ (ja) (wokka), ヴォートカ (vōtoka)
• Kabardian: аркъэ (kbd) (arqɛ)
• Kalmyk: әрк (ärk)
• Kannada: ವೋಡ್ಕಾ (vōḍkā)
• Kazakh: водка (vodka), арақ (araq)
• Khmer: វ៉ូដាកា (voudaakaa)
• Korean: 보드카 (ko) (bodeuka)
• Kyrgyz: водка (vodka), арак (ky) (arak)
• Lao: ວອດກ້າ (wǭt kā)
• Latgalian: braņdīņs
• Latin: vodca f
• Latvian: degvīns (lv) m, šņabis (lv) m, vodka (lv) f
• Lithuanian: degtinė f, vodka f
• Luxembourgish: Wodka
• Macedonian: вотка f (votka)
• Malay: vodka
• Maltese: vodka f
• Mongolian: цагаан архи (cagaan arxi), архи (mn) (arxi)
• Nivkh: арак (arak)
• Norman: vodka m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vodka (no) m

  Nynorsk: vodka m

• Ossetian: арахъ (araq)
• Persian: ودکا (fa) (vodkâ)
• Polish: wódka (pl) f
• Portuguese: vodca (pt) f, vodka (pt) f
• Romanian: vodcă (ro) f
• Russian: во́дка (ru) f (vódka), горе́лка (ru) f (gorélka) (regional, Ukraine, South Russia)
• Samogitian: arielka f, degtėnė f
• Scottish Gaelic: bhodca m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во̏тка f

  Latin: vȍtka (sh) f

• Sinhalese: වොඩ්කා (woḍkā)
• Slovak: vodka (sk) f
• Slovene: vodka f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wodka f

  Upper Sorbian: wódka f

• Southern Altai: аракы (arakï)
• Spanish: vodka (es) f
• Swahili: vodka
• Swedish: vodka (sv) c
• Tagalog: bodka
• Tajik: арақ (araq), водка (vodka)
• Tamil: ஓட்கா (ōṭkā)
• Tatar: водка (wodka), аракы (tt) (araqı)
• Telugu: వోడ్కా (vōḍkā)
• Thai: วอดก้า (wɔ́t-gâa)
• Turkish: votka (tr)
• Turkmen: arak (tk), wodka
• Ukrainian: горі́лка (uk) f (horílka)
• Urdu: وودکا f (vodkā), ووڈکا f (voḍkā)
• Uyghur: ۋوتكا (wotka)
• Uzbek: aroq (uz), vodka, araq (uz)
• Vietnamese: vodka (vi), vôtca, rượu vôtca, rượu vodka
• Vilamovian: branfȧjn m
• Yakut: үрүҥ арыгы (ürüŋ arïgï)
• Yiddish: מאַשקע (mashke), וואָדקע (vodke)

serving

• Finnish: viina (fi), paloviina (fi), votka (fi), vodka (fi), brenkku (fi), (colloquial), votkaryyppy (fi)
• Greek: βότκα (el) f (vótka)
• Macedonian: вотка f (votka)
• Russian: во́дка (ru) f (vódka)
• Spanish: vodka (es) m or f

Further reading

• vodka on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Cornish

Pronunciation

• (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈvɔdka]
• (Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [ˈvɔdkɐ]

Noun

vodka f (plural vodkas)

1. vodka

References

• Cornish-English Dictionary from Maga's Online Dictionary
• Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF) (in Cornish), 2018, published 2018, page 190
• vodka in the Alternative Cornish Dictionary

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka). By surface analysis, voda +‎ -ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvotka]
• Rhymes: -otka
• Hyphenation: vod‧ka

Noun

vodka f (relational adjective vodkový)

1. vodka

Declension

Declension of vodka (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	vodka	vodky
genitive	vodky	vodek
dative	vodce	vodkám
accusative	vodku	vodky
vocative	vodko	vodky
locative	vodce	vodkách
instrumental	vodkou	vodkami

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “vodka”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “vodka”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Noun

vodka

1. vodka

Declension

Declension of vodka

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	vodka	vodkaen	vodkaer	vodkaerne
genitive	vodkas	vodkaens	vodkaers	vodkaernes

Finnish

Alternative forms

• votka

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋodkɑ/, [ˈʋo̞dkɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -odkɑ
• Syllabification^(key): vod‧ka
• Hyphenation^(key): vod‧ka

Noun

vodka

1. vodka

Declension

Inflection of vodka (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		vodka	vodkat
genitive		vodkan	vodkien
partitive		vodkaa	vodkia
illative		vodkaan	vodkiin
		singular	plural
nominative		vodka	vodkat
accusative	nom.	vodka	vodkat
	gen.	vodkan
genitive		vodkan	vodkien vodkain rare
partitive		vodkaa	vodkia
inessive		vodkassa	vodkissa
elative		vodkasta	vodkista
illative		vodkaan	vodkiin
adessive		vodkalla	vodkilla
ablative		vodkalta	vodkilta
allative		vodkalle	vodkille
essive		vodkana	vodkina
translative		vodkaksi	vodkiksi
abessive		vodkatta	vodkitta
instructive		—	vodkin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of vodka (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative vodkani vodkani accusative nom. vodkani vodkani gen. vodkani genitive vodkani vodkieni vodkaini rare partitive vodkaani vodkiani inessive vodkassani vodkissani elative vodkastani vodkistani illative vodkaani vodkiini adessive vodkallani vodkillani ablative vodkaltani vodkiltani allative vodkalleni vodkilleni essive vodkanani vodkinani translative vodkakseni vodkikseni abessive vodkattani vodkittani instructive — — comitative — vodkineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative vodkasi vodkasi accusative nom. vodkasi vodkasi gen. vodkasi genitive vodkasi vodkiesi vodkaisi rare partitive vodkaasi vodkiasi inessive vodkassasi vodkissasi elative vodkastasi vodkistasi illative vodkaasi vodkiisi adessive vodkallasi vodkillasi ablative vodkaltasi vodkiltasi allative vodkallesi vodkillesi essive vodkanasi vodkinasi translative vodkaksesi vodkiksesi abessive vodkattasi vodkittasi instructive — — comitative — vodkinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative vodkamme vodkamme accusative nom. vodkamme vodkamme gen. vodkamme genitive vodkamme vodkiemme vodkaimme rare partitive vodkaamme vodkiamme inessive vodkassamme vodkissamme elative vodkastamme vodkistamme illative vodkaamme vodkiimme adessive vodkallamme vodkillamme ablative vodkaltamme vodkiltamme allative vodkallemme vodkillemme essive vodkanamme vodkinamme translative vodkaksemme vodkiksemme abessive vodkattamme vodkittamme instructive — — comitative — vodkinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative vodkanne vodkanne accusative nom. vodkanne vodkanne gen. vodkanne genitive vodkanne vodkienne vodkainne rare partitive vodkaanne vodkianne inessive vodkassanne vodkissanne elative vodkastanne vodkistanne illative vodkaanne vodkiinne adessive vodkallanne vodkillanne ablative vodkaltanne vodkiltanne allative vodkallenne vodkillenne essive vodkananne vodkinanne translative vodkaksenne vodkiksenne abessive vodkattanne vodkittanne instructive — — comitative — vodkinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative vodkansa vodkansa accusative nom. vodkansa vodkansa gen. vodkansa genitive vodkansa vodkiensa vodkainsa rare partitive vodkaansa vodkiaan vodkiansa inessive vodkassaan vodkassansa vodkissaan vodkissansa elative vodkastaan vodkastansa vodkistaan vodkistansa illative vodkaansa vodkiinsa adessive vodkallaan vodkallansa vodkillaan vodkillansa ablative vodkaltaan vodkaltansa vodkiltaan vodkiltansa allative vodkalleen vodkallensa vodkilleen vodkillensa essive vodkanaan vodkanansa vodkinaan vodkinansa translative vodkakseen vodkaksensa vodkikseen vodkiksensa abessive vodkattaan vodkattansa vodkittaan vodkittansa instructive — — comitative — vodkineen vodkinensa

Synonyms

• paloviina
• viina

Derived terms

compounds

• vodkalime
• vodkaturisti

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 4 July 2023

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔd.ka/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

vodka f (plural vodkas)

1. vodka

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Hungarian

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvotkɒ]
• Hyphenation: vod‧ka
• Rhymes: -kɒ

Noun

vodka (plural vodkák)

1. vodka

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	vodka	vodkák
accusative	vodkát	vodkákat
dative	vodkának	vodkáknak
instrumental	vodkával	vodkákkal
causal-final	vodkáért	vodkákért
translative	vodkává	vodkákká
terminative	vodkáig	vodkákig
essive-formal	vodkaként	vodkákként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	vodkában	vodkákban
superessive	vodkán	vodkákon
adessive	vodkánál	vodkáknál
illative	vodkába	vodkákba
sublative	vodkára	vodkákra
allative	vodkához	vodkákhoz
elative	vodkából	vodkákból
delative	vodkáról	vodkákról
ablative	vodkától	vodkáktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	vodkáé	vodkáké
non-attributive possessive – plural	vodkáéi	vodkákéi

Possessive forms of vodka

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	vodkám	vodkáim
2nd person sing.	vodkád	vodkáid
3rd person sing.	vodkája	vodkái
1st person plural	vodkánk	vodkáink
2nd person plural	vodkátok	vodkáitok
3rd person plural	vodkájuk	vodkáik

Derived terms

• vodkás

Further reading

• vodka in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɔt.kʰa/

Noun

vodka n (genitive singular vodka, no plural)

1. vodka

Declension

Declension of vodka (sg-only neuter)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	vodka	vodkað
accusative	vodka	vodkað
dative	vodka	vodkanu
genitive	vodka	vodkans

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• wodka (nonstandard)

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), from вода́ (vodá, “water”) + -ка (-ka, “-let: forming diminutives”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔt.ka/
• Rhymes: -ka
• Hyphenation: vod‧ka

Noun

vodka

1. vodka
   1. a clear distilled alcoholic liquor made from grain mash
   2. a serving of the above beverage

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɔd.ka/
• Rhymes: -ɔdka
• Hyphenation: vòd‧ka

Noun

vodka f (invariable)

1. vodka

Norman

Etymology

From English vodka, from Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Noun

vodka m (plural vodkas)

1. (Jersey) vodka

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋɔdkɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɑ

Noun

vodka m (definite singular vodkaen)

1. vodka

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Noun

vodka m (definite singular vodkaen)

1. vodka

Portuguese

várias garrafas de vodka

Alternative forms

• vodca

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka), diminutive of вода́ (vodá).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔd͡ʒ.kɐ/, /ˈvɔ.d͡ʒi.kɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔd͡ʒ.kɐ/, /ˈvɔ.d͡ʒi.kɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔd͡ʒ.ka/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔ.dkɐ/ [ˈvɔ.ðkɐ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔ.dkɐ/ [ˈvɔ.ðkɐ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔ.dkɐ/ [ˈbɔ.ðkɐ]

• Rhymes: -ɔd͡ʒkɐ, -ɔd͡ʒikɐ, -ɔdkɐ
• Hyphenation: vod‧ka

Noun

vodka f (plural vodkas)

1. vodka (alcoholic drink, colorless and almost tasteless, obtained from cereals, originating in Eastern Europe)

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “vodka”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *vodъka, equivalent to voda (“water”) +‎ -ka (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɔtka]

Noun

vodka f (genitive singular vodky, nominative plural vodky, genitive plural vodiek, declension pattern of žena)

1. vodka

Declension

Declension of vodka
(pattern žena)

	singular	plural
nominative	vodka	vodky
genitive	vodky	vodiek
dative	vodke	vodkám
accusative	vodku	vodky
locative	vodke	vodkách
instrumental	vodkou	vodkami

Derived terms

• vodkový

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Spanish

Alternative forms

• vodca (rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian во́дка (vódka, literally “little water”), a diminutive of вода́ (vodá, “water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbodka/ [ˈboð̞.ka]
• Rhymes: -odka
• Syllabification: vod‧ka

Noun

vodka m or f (plural vodkas)

1. vodka

Usage notes

Vodka is usually treated as a masculine noun, but feminine noun usage is permitted per its etymology.

Further reading

• “vodka”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “vodka”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔdka/

Noun

vodka c

1. vodka

Declension

Declension of [Term?]

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	vodka	vodkas
	definite	vodkan	vodkans
plural	indefinite	vodkor	vodkors
	definite	vodkorna	vodkornas

References

• vodka in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• vodka in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• vodka in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)