Brewer's: Whisky

Contracted from the Gaelic ooshk-'a-pai (water of health). Usquebaugh, Irish uisge-'a-bagh (water of life); cau de vie, French (water of life).

L.L. whisky.
(See L.L. Whisky.) Whisky, drink divine (the song) was by O'Leary, not by John Sheehan. As a pretty general rule the Scotch word is whiskey, and the Irish word whisky, without the e.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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