malmsey

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The rich muscadel and malmsey, and the wines of Gascoigne and the Rhine, are no longer quaffed by the abbot and his more honoured guests, but drunk to his destruction by his foes.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A sweet fortified wine originally made in Greece and now produced mainly in Madeira. Also called malvasia, malvoisie.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Drowning in the malmsey-butt is no better than the Thames. —  Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis
  • Due to characteristic terroire, with red soil spreading across the littoral and white soil covering the hinterland, bouquet of Istrian wines varies from fresh taste of Malvasia (malmsey) to intense and deep taste of Teran, one of two indigenous wines of Istria. —  Budapest Times
  • He entertains him, gives him gifts, feasts him, lodges him, his religion comes home at night, prays, is liberally supped and sumptuously laid to sleep, rises, is saluted; and after the malmsey or some well-spiced brewage, and better breakfasted than He whose morning appetite would have gladly fed on green figs between Bethany and Jerusalem, his religion walks abroad at eight, and leaves his kind entertainer in the shop, trading all day without his religion." —  Life of John Milton
  • Lastly here are many fowls, as cocks, and hens, ducks, pigeons, partridges, etc. with plenty of fish, as mackerel, etc. All the Canary Islands have of these commodities and provisions more or less: but as Lancerota is most famed for horses, and Grand Canary, Tenerife, and Palma for wines, Tenerife especially for the best malmsey (for which reason these 3 islands have the chief trade) so is Forteventura for dunghill-fowls, and Gomera for deer. —  A Voyage to New Holland
  • The rich muscadel and malmsey, and the wines of Gascoigne and the Rhine, are no longer quaffed by the abbot and his more honoured guests, but drunk to his destruction by his foes. —  The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, ultimately from Medieval Latin malvasia, malmasia, alteration of Medieval Greek Monemvasia (Malvasia), a village of southern Greece.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly malmsie, malmesie. malmasye; from Middle English malvesie, malweysy = Middle Dutch malvaseye, Dutch malvezy, malvazy, malvazier = G. Danish malvasier = Swedish malvasir, from French malvesie, malvoisie = Spanish malvasía, marvasía = Portuguese malvasia (Middle Latin malvaticum), from Italian malvasia, a wine so called from Malvasia or Napoli di Malvasia, from New Greek Μονεμβασία, a seaport on the southeastern coast of Laconia, Greece, contr. of μόνη ἐμβασία, ‘single entrance’: Greek μόνη, feminine of μόνος, single (see monad); ἐμβασία, entrance, from ἐμβαίνειν, enter, go in, from ἐν, in, + βαίνειν, go.
 

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/ˈmɑmzi/
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