Word Origins | Wine

Mavi Boncuk |Sarap in Turkish from Arabic Ser-ab [1]. Wine from Hittite "vinu/vine" and "wiana/wineyard". O.E. win, from P.Gmc. *winam (cf. O.S., O.Fris., O.H.G. win, O.N. vin, Du. wijn, Ger. Wein), an early borrowing from L. vinum "wine," from PIE *win-o-, from an Italic noun related to words for "wine" in Gk. (oinos), Armenian, Hittite, and non-I.E. Georgian and West Semitic (cf. Arabic wain, Heb. yayin), probably from a lost Mediterranean language word *win-/*woin- "wine." Also from L. vinum are O.C.S. vino, Lith. vynas, Welsh gwin, O.Ir. fin.
[1]The distillation of wine and the properties of alcohol were known to Islamic chemists from the eighth century. The prohibition of wine in Islam did not mean that wine was not produced or consumed or that Arab alchemists did not subject it to their distillation processes.An interesting name for wine was ma’ al-hayat ماء الحياة (water of life) which is the same name as aqua vitae (water of life) that was given to distilled wine in the West when distillation was first transferred from the Arabs in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The etymology of `araq is of great interest in the history of alcohol. We have given evidence above about the existence of wine distillation since the eighth century. But what was the common name for the distilled wine among the public? This interesting topic was not investigated as yet. We started such an investigation into earlier literary sources. We found that in Hikayat Abu al-Qasim al-Baghdadi (written c. first half 5/11 century) a mention of `araq al-nabidh عرق النبيذ (the `araq of wine). Al-Nuwayri (d. 732/1331) mentions in his encyclopaedia that the taxes that were levied on `araq amounted to 10 %. Al-Antaki (d. 1008/1599) mentions the `araq of sugar cane and of grapes. When discussing khamr (wine) he mentions `araqi as a distilled kind that is useful in certain cases.
Syria was particularly known for the production of wines and `araq. They were produced by Christians in the numerous monasteries and convents of Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Wine shops were plentiful in the main cities such as Baghdad and were run by non-Muslims.

Source:Alcohol and the Distillation of Wine in Arabic Sources From the Eighth Century Onwards