1 Answer

The first references to the word “booze” meaning “alcoholic drink” in English appear around the 14th century, though it was originally spelled “bouse”.  The spelling, as it is today, didn’t appear until around the 17th century.

The word “booze” itself appears to have Germanic origins, though which specific word it came from is still a little bit of a mystery.  The three main words often cited are more or less all cousins of each other and are very similar in meaning and spelling.  One of the words came from the Old High German “bausen”, which meant “bulge or billow”.  This in turn was a cousin of the Dutch word “búsen”, which meant “to drink excessively” or “to get drunk”.  The Old Dutch language also has a similar word “buise”, which translates to “drinking vessel”.  It is thought that the word “bouse” in English, which later became “booze”, has its origins in one or more of those three words, with most scholars leaning towards it coming from the Dutch word “búsen”.