Definitions

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

  • noun A fortified Spanish wine ranging from very dry to sweet and from amber to brown.
  • noun A similar wine made elsewhere.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Originally, the wine of Xeres; hence; a general name for the strong white wines of the south of Spain, of all qualities except the lowest.
  • noun A small wine-glass of the size and form commonly used for sherry and similar wines.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A Spanish light-colored dry wine, made in Andalusia. As prepared for commerce it is colored a straw color or a deep amber by mixing with it cheap wine boiled down.
  • noun a beverage prepared with sherry wine, water, lemon or orange, sugar, ice, etc., and usually imbided through a straw or a glass tube.

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

  • noun uncountable A fortified wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, or a similar wine produced elsewhere.
  • noun A variety of sherry.
  • noun A glass of sherry.

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

  • noun dry to sweet amber wine from the Jerez region of southern Spain or similar wines produced elsewhere; usually drunk as an aperitif

Etymologies

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

[Alteration of sherris (taken as pl.), after Xeres, (Jerez), Spain.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English sherris (interpreted as plural), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres ("wine of Xeres"), Xeres being the former name of Jerez.

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Examples

  • He could never tell Madeira from sherry, -- nay, an Oriental friend having sent him a butt of _sheeraz_, when he {p. 253} remembered the circumstance some time afterwards, and called for a bottle to have Sir John Malcolm's opinion of its quality, it turned out that his butler, mistaking the label, had already served up half the bin as _sherry_.

    Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) 1824

  • The term sherry is derived from the name of the town where it is made: Jerez de la Frontera, which, along with Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa María, forms a triangle in southwestern Spain.

    Sherry's Joyous Value Will Lyons 2011

  • Madrid maintains that the term sherry can only be applied to wine made in the region of Jerez in southern Spain.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1997

  • But they're also keen on lesser-known wine-producing areas, like Canada's Niagara region, which touts scenic wonders and ice wine, to boot, and European centers that specialize in sherry and port.

    10 Wine Regions Worth Exploring (PHOTOS) Kate Auletta 2010

  • But they're also keen on lesser-known wine-producing areas, like Canada's Niagara region, which touts scenic wonders and ice wine, to boot, and European centers that specialize in sherry and port.

    10 Wine Regions Worth Exploring (PHOTOS) Kate Auletta 2010

  • But they're also keen on lesser-known wine-producing areas, like Canada's Niagara region, which touts scenic wonders and ice wine, to boot, and European centers that specialize in sherry and port.

    10 Wine Regions Worth Exploring (PHOTOS) Kate Auletta 2010

  • But they're also keen on lesser-known wine-producing areas, like Canada's Niagara region, which touts scenic wonders and ice wine, to boot, and European centers that specialize in sherry and port.

    10 Wine Regions Worth Exploring (PHOTOS) Kate Auletta 2010

  • An agreement on the terms sherry and porto, drinks from Spain and

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2000

  • The accord snagged on the names of fortified wines, with Spain and Portugal insisting South Africa stop using the terms sherry and port for its wines.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1999

  • You persuaded me to give up that silly drink they call sherry, and drink ale; and what was it but drinking ale which gave me courage to knock down that fellow

    The Romany Rye A Sequel to 'Lavengro' George Henry Borrow 1842

Comments

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  • Sherry Baby by the Four Seasons

    February 8, 2008

  • Sheh-eh-eh-ehe-eh-herry baay-yaaay-beee...

    Don't forget Oh Sherrie by Steve Perry. HA!

    February 8, 2008

  • According to one theory, it is from Jerez in Spain, which itself comes from Persian Shiraz during the time of Rustamid empire in Spain

    August 31, 2009

  • originally dry...... now sweet!

    May 15, 2012