Standard Lemma guide

rakija

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈɹɑːki.ə/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A strong distilled alcoholic beverage made from various fruits, varieties of which (such as slivovitz) are found across the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pálenka

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian rakija/ракија, from Ottoman Turkish راقی (rakı), assumed from Arabic عَرَق (ʕaraq, “sweat; wine”) (as rakija or wine vapor drops are similar to drops of sweat). Doublet of raki.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: raki — strong alcoholic drink
  • Bulgarian: раки́я (rakíja) — strong alcoholic drink
  • French: rakia — strong alcoholic drink
  • Greek: ρακή (rakí) — strong alcoholic drink
  • Greek: ρακί (rakí) — strong alcoholic drink
  • Hungarian: pálinka — strong alcoholic drink
  • Italian: rakia — strong alcoholic drink
  • Macedonian: ракија (rakija) — strong alcoholic drink
  • Pannonian Rusyn: палєнка (paljenka) — strong alcoholic drink
  • Polish: rakija — strong alcoholic drink
  • Romanian: rachiu — strong alcoholic drink
  • Russian: ра́кия (rákija) — strong alcoholic drink
  • Serbo-Croatian: ра̀кија — strong alcoholic drink
  • Serbo-Croatian: ràkija — strong alcoholic drink
  • Turkish: rakı — strong alcoholic drink
  • Ottoman Turkish: راقی (rakı) — strong alcoholic drink