ouzo
/ˈuːzəʊ//ˈuzoʊ/
ouzo noun: an anise-flavoured aperitif, originating in Greece.
Noun
ouzo (countable and uncountable, plural ouzos)
- An anise-flavoured aperitif, originating in Greece.
- Jai went in and poured out two glasses of ouzo, throwing a splash of water. He stuck his finger into each and stirred; the liquor swirled and got foggy.2018, Shiv Kotecha, The Switch, United States: Wonder, →ISBN, page 122
- A serving of this drink.
- In Athens he looked up from his ouzo at what he called the ugliest people in the world.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC
Forms of ouzo
| plural | ouzos |
|---|
Origin of ouzo
From Greek ούζο (oúzo), either from Turkish üzüm (“grape”) or from the Italian uso in Marsiglia (“for use in Marseille”) stamped on selected silkworm cocoons exported from Tyrnavos in the 19th century, standing for “superior quality”. Other: from the ancient Greek word ὄζω (ózō, “to smell”) - ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) because of the strong smell of the drink.
Words formed from ouzo
Words that rhyme with ouzo
Questions about ouzo
- What does ouzo mean?
- Ouzo means an anise-flavoured aperitif, originating in Greece.
- What part of speech is ouzo?
- Ouzo is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ouzo?
- Ouzo is pronounced /ˈuːzəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of ouzo?
- The plural of ouzo is ouzos.
Words near ouzo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ouzo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ouzo.wav, En-us-ouzo.oga.
Cite this entry: “ouzo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ouzo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.