root beer

See also: rootbeer

English

A glass of root beer with foam.

Alternative forms

• rootbeer

Etymology

The term is attested since before the lifetime of Charles Elmer Hires, but he is widely credited with popularizing it much further than it had previously been; his proprietary beverage was inspired by an earlier root tea, and he planned to sell it under that name, but he changed its name to broaden the sales appeal. For more, see Wikipedia at root beer § History.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːt ˌbɪə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹut ˌbɪɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Noun

root beer (countable and uncountable, plural root beers)

1. A beverage, most often a carbonated soft drink made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses, among other things.

   Coordinate terms: birch beer, ginger beer, root tea, sarsaparilla

   • 2002, Todd Wilbur, Top Secret Recipes, Penguin, →ISBN:

     In 1919, when Roy Allen and Frank Wright started selling their new root beer beverage to a thirsty America, national Prohibition was taking its grip on the country. Their timing couldn't have been better. No longer able to legally drink real beer, thirsty patriots had to settle for this sweet, foamy conoction derived from roots, herbs, and berries.

2. A dark reddish-brown color, like the drink.

   root beer:  

   • 2000, Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves, page 26:

     I just keep staring at all the ink we have, that wild variety of color, everything from rootbeer, midnight blue and cochineal to mauve, light doe, lilac, south sea green, maize, even pelican black, all line up in these plastic caps […]

   • 2006, Tim Lewis, Bows, Swamps, Whitetails, page 28:

     […] most of our bucks have antlers that are varying degrees of brown, from a deep rich root beer shade to walnut to even light amber.

Translations

beverage with sarsaparilla root

• Catalan: cervesa d'arrels
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 根汁汽水 (gēnzhī qìshuǐ), 根啤 (gēnpí), 沙士 (zh) (shāshì)

• Esperanto: radikbiero
• Finnish: juuriolut (fi)
• French: racinette (fr) f
• German: Root Beer n, Wurzelbier n
• Indonesian: rutbir
• Italian: birra di radice f
• Japanese: ルートビア (rūtobia)
• Korean: 루트비어 (ruteubieo)
• Portuguese: root beer f, cerveja de raiz f, cerveja de raízes f
• Russian: корнево́е пи́во n (kornevóje pívo), рутбир (ru) m (rutbir)
• Slovene: zeliščno pivo n
• Spanish: cerveza de raíz f
• Thai: รูตเบียร์
• Turkish: kök birası
• Vietnamese: xá xị (vi)
• Yiddish: וואָרצלביר n (vortslbir), רוטביר n (rutbir)

Anagrams

• rebooter, roboteer

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English root beer.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌʁu.t͡ʃiˈbi(ʁ)/ [ˌhu.t͡ʃiˈbi(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌʁu.t͡ʃiˈbi(ʁ)/ [ˌhu.t͡ʃiˈbi(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˌʁu.t͡ʃiˈbi(ɾ)/ [ˌhu.t͡ʃiˈbi(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˌʁu.t͡ʃiˈbi(ʁ)/ [ˌχu.t͡ʃiˈbi(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌʁu.teˈbi(ɻ)/ [ˌhu.teˈbi(ɻ)]

Noun

root beer f (plural root beers)

1. root beer (beverage made with sarsaparilla root)

   Synonyms: cerveja de raiz, cerveja de raízes