Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun, plural bran·dies.
- a spirit distilled from wine or from the fermented juice of grapes or of apples, peaches, plums, etc.
verb (used with object), bran·died, bran·dy·ing.
- to mix, flavor, or preserve with brandy.
noun plural -dies
- an alcoholic drink consisting of spirit distilled from grape wine
- a distillation of wines made from other fruitsplum brandy
1650s, abbreviation of brandywine (1620s) from Dutch brandewijn “burnt wine,” so called because it is distilled (cf. German cognate Branntwein and Czech palenka “brandy,” from paliti “to burn”). The Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania, site of a Revolutionary War battle, supposedly so named by the Dutch for the color of its waters.