Aqua vitae

Common card · No. 208950

Aqua vitae (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a strong aqueous solution of ethanol. These terms could also be applied to weak ethanol without rectification. Usage was widespread during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, although its origin is likely much earlier. This Latin term appears in a wide array of dialectical forms throughout all lands and people conquered by ancient Rome. The term is a generic name for all types of distillates, and eventually came to refer specifically to distillates of alcoholic beverages (liquors). Aqua vitae was typically prepared by distilling wine and in English texts was also called ardent spirits, spirit of wine, or spirits of wine, a name that could be applied to brandy that had been repeatedly distilled. The term was used by the 14th-century alchemist John of Rupescissa, who believed the then newly discovered substance of ethanol was an imperishable and life-giving "fifth essence" or quintessence, and who extensively studied...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Hieronymus Brunschwig, Public domain