Arak
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A clear, unsweetened aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, produced and consumed primarily in the Levant. uncountable, usually
"A rite of the grape harvest in the Christian villages dotting the Lebanon mountain range[…] is the perfectly legal distillation of homemade arak. This smooth, cool, refreshing liquor, tasting of licorice with a soupçon of peppermint, remains the staple drink at Sunday lunch, an eat-till-you-drop extravaganza of small meze dishes."
- 2 A toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica). uncountable, usually
"They use perfume freely, paint their eyes with kohl, and are constantly polishing their teeth with twigs of green arak-wood."
- 3 any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses wordnet
- 4 Alternative spelling of arrack (an alcoholic drink distilled from coconut palm flowers or sugar cane) alt-of, alternative, uncountable, usually
- 1 A city in Iran, the seat of Arak County's Central District and the capital of Markazi Province, formerly called Soltanabad.
- 2 A county of Iran, around the city.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"A rite of the grape harvest in the Christian villages dotting the Lebanon mountain range[…] is the perfectly legal distillation of homemade arak. This smooth, cool, refreshing liquor, tasting of licorice with a soupçon of peppermint, remains the staple drink at Sunday lunch, an eat-till-you-drop extravaganza of small meze dishes."
Etymology
From Arabic عَرَق (ʕaraq, “sweat”), a reference to the condensate in the distillation process. Doublet of ara, raki, and rakija.
From Arabic أَرَاك (ʔarāk).
From Persian اراک (arâk).
Related phrases
More for "arak"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.