Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A sweet cordial flavored with fruit kernels or almonds.
- n. A biscuit flavored with ratafia.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A sweet, cordial flavored with fruits: sometimes limited to those the flavor of which is obtained from black currants, bitter almonds, or peach- and cherry-kernels.
- n. A kind of fancy cake or biscuit.
- n. A flavoring essence of which the principal ingredient is benzoic aldehyde or oil of bitter almonds.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A spirituous liquor flavored with the kernels of cherries, apricots, peaches, or other fruit, spiced, and sweetened with sugar; -- a term applied to the liqueurs called
noyau ,curaçao , etc.
WordNet 3.0
- n. macaroon flavored with ratafia liqueur
- n. sweet liqueur made from wine and brandy flavored with plum or peach or apricot kernels and bitter almonds
Etymologies
- French, perhaps of West Indian Creole origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For the finale, a traditional liqueur called ratafia is steeping basically fruit and spices soaked in brandy for a few weeks, and although declaring herself "not crafty," Curtis is trying gamely to hand-paint teacups.”
“The stronger or less diluted the spirit is taken, the sooner it seems to destroy, as in dram-drinkers; but still sooner, when kernels of apricots, or bitter almonds, or laurel-leaf, are infused in the spirit, which is termed ratafia; as then two poisons are swallowed at the same time.”
“Then came trifle, ratafia biscuits, and a baked custard dusted with cinnamon, and three types of cheeses and grapes to finish.”
“A fire was burning in the grate to warm the salon, and ratafia biscuits and a flask of sherry were arrayed on a side table.”
“Right now, Dervishton and Falkland were gallantly arguing over who should fetch her a new glass of ratafia.”
“Her hand tightened about her glass of ratafia as their gazes locked.”
“The ladies made themselves at home in the blue sitting room to talk, sip ratafia, and await the arrival of the gentlemen.”
“Ratafia pudding made with almonds, cream & bread and a sauce of ratafia”
“Over macaroons and ratafia, the ladies of the DuVal, Branch, and Gamble families made sure that the Browards and the Tuckers were on their side, politically correct on such issues as restricting the movements of free Negroes and pushing the Seminoles—who were a bad influence on all the Negroes, free and slave—off the peninsula.”
“Further fennel fun: I'm trying out a fennel ratafia.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ratafia’.
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
Rats
rats, rat, tree-rat, pilori-rat, prorate, pro rata, Ratso Rizzo, ratfink, rat pack, Rat Pack, Rats!, rat race and 157 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
-
The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
-
Verrines of Random Palavery
broth of a man, broth of a boy, saturege, satureja, selachophobia, misopogonistically, prosiopesis, excave, intermicate, meletian, cone-anchor, goose wing and 454 more...
-
...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
-
R is for restless
ratten, randem, reast, remontado, rhineurynter, raith, rheid, rhonchisonant, rhochrematics, rhyton, riem, ridotto and 29 more...
-
Liquor is Quicker
Fermented and distilled.
usquebaugh, whisky, malt whisky, grain whisky, bourbon, scotch, gin, vodka, brandy, cognac, Armagnac, Pisco and 71 more...
-
I've Run a Fowles.
Words from The Magus
magus, bougainvillea, innermost, numen, imbricate, bilges, sandal-wood, incorporeal, fleshpot, desipience, batrachian, caique and 82 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ratafia.
hernesheir Generally, a liqueur obtained without distilling, by simple infusion. Feb 18, 2010
hernesheir Larousse Gastronomique lists ratafia as a term for quince liqueur or quince water. Feb 18, 2010
chained_bear "...they took their coffee and ratafia biscuits (the sea-going equivalent of petits fours) in the great cabin..."
--P. O'Brian, The Yellow Admiral, 126 Mar 19, 2008