ratafia
/ˌɹætəˈfiːə/
ratafia noun: a liqueur or cordial flavored with peach or cherry kernels, bitter almonds, or other fruits.
Noun
ratafia (countable and uncountable, plural ratafias)
- A liqueur or cordial flavored with peach or cherry kernels, bitter almonds, or other fruits.
- “Stop that there infernal screeching!” said a couple of ladies, who were sipping ratafia in company with two pretty fellows.1839, William Makepeace Thackeray, Catherine: A Story
- Steeped cucumber ratafia with Pimm's and Sprite is garnished with a squash blossom at T'afia in Houston.2007 August 29, Pete Wells, “Bottling the Bounty of the Season”, in New York Times
- A kind of biscuit made with ratafia essence and almond or apricot kernels.
- Mrs. Chaloner ordered wine-biscuits and olives, and gave Mr. Freely to understand that she should find his shop a great convenience. So did the doctor’s wife, and so did Mrs. Gate, at the large carding-mill, who, having high connexions frequently visiting her, might be expected to have a large...1864, George Eliot, chapter II, in Brother Jacob
- Synonyms:
- ratafia biscuit
Synonyms of ratafia
Forms of ratafia
| plural | ratafias |
|---|
Origin of ratafia
Borrowed from Creole French ratafia, from the Latin phrase rata fiat (conventio) (“the deal is made”), a drinking toast expression to celebrate a deal or an agreement. Or, sharing an Arabic origin with arak.
Phrases with ratafia
Words that rhyme with ratafia
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- althea
- Anthea
- Caesarea
- hamartia
- Hosea
- Leah
- logorrhea
- maria
- panacea
- Sandia
- Theia
- trachea
- Zia
- Achaea
- Alethea
- carry the message to Garcia
- chia
- chorea
- diarrhea
- Hygieia
- mens rea
- pharmacopoeia
- pro-mia
- quesadilla
- sangria
- shea
- Shi'a
- tortilla
- urea
- Aeaea
- Apamea
- apatheia
- Aramea
- Arimathea
- avania
- cinquedea
- Corea
- deliver the message to Garcia
- dionaea
- dyspnea
- Euboea
- eupatheia
- Euryclea
- Fawzia
- gelateria
- glossopoeia
- gonorrhea
- Hialeah
Questions about ratafia
- What does ratafia mean?
- Ratafia means a liqueur or cordial flavored with peach or cherry kernels, bitter almonds, or other fruits.
- What part of speech is ratafia?
- Ratafia is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ratafia?
- Ratafia is pronounced /ˌɹætəˈfiːə/.
- What is the plural of ratafia?
- The plural of ratafia is ratafias.
Words near ratafia in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ratafia (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)-Neøn-ratafia.wav.
Cite this entry: “ratafia.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ratafia. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
