Why the Word for Wine Is Similar in So Many Languages

There's Greek oinos and Hebrew yayin, to say nothing of such farther-flung cognates as Swahili mvinyo and Maori waina. Is there a common root?

By Philologos

Joe Slater writes:

My Oxford English Dictionary says that “cider” ultimately comes from Latin sicera, and that this word was used to translate the Hebrew word sheykhar. Was the Latin word originally Semitic, and if so, why? I’ve also observed that the Greek and Hebrew words for wine, oinos and yayin, are similar as well. Does this imply that there was a Mediterranean trade in alcoholic beverages?

There certainly was such a trade, although whether that explains the similarity of oinos and yayin, or of sicera, sheykhar, and “cider,” is something else. Let’s start with sheykhar.

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Joe Slater writes:

My Oxford English Dictionary says that “cider” ultimately comes from Latin sicera, and that this word was used to translate the Hebrew word sheykhar. Was the Latin word originally Semitic, and if so, why? I’ve also observed that the Greek and Hebrew words for wine, oinos and yayin, are similar as well. Does this imply that there was a Mediterranean trade in alcoholic beverages?

There certainly was such a trade, although whether that explains the similarity of oinos and yayin, or of sicera, sheykhar, and “cider,” is something else. Let’s start with sheykhar.

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