Meanings
plural ouzos
- countableA serving of this drink.
In Athens he looked up from his ouzo at what he called the ugliest people in the world.
1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC
Origin
- Italianuso in Marsiglia“for use in Marseille”
- Turkishüzüm“grape”
- Greekούζο
- Englishouzo
From Greek ούζο (oúzo), either from Turkish üzüm (“grape”) or from the Italian uso in Marsiglia (“for use in Marseille”) stamped on selected silkworm cocoons exported from Tyrnavos in the 19th century, standing for “superior quality”. Other: from the ancient Greek word ὄζω (ózō, “to smell”) - ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) because of the strong smell of the drink.
More words from Greek, Turkish, Italian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian узо
- узо (uzo)drink
Chinese Mandarin 烏佐酒 /乌佐酒
- 烏佐酒 /乌佐酒 (wūzuǒjiǔ)drink
Dutch ouzo
- ouzodrink
Esperanto oŭzo
- oŭzodrink
Finnish ouzo, ouzo
- ouzodrink
- ouzoglass of ouzo
French ouzo
- ouzodrink
German Ouzo, Ouzo
- Ouzodrink
- Ouzoglass of ouzo
Greek ούζο, ούζο
- ούζο (oúzo)drink
- ούζο (oúzo)glass of ouzo
Hebrew אוזו
- אוזו (úzo)drink
Hungarian úzó
- úzódrink
Japanese ウーゾ
- ウーゾ (ūzo)drink
Korean 우조
- 우조 (ujo)drink
Polish uzo, uzo
- uzodrink
- uzoglass of ouzo
Portuguese uzo, ouzo
- uzodrink
- ouzodrink
Russian у́зо
- у́зо (úzo)drink
Swedish ouzo
- ouzodrink
Turkish uzo, uzo
- uzodrink
- uzoglass of ouzo
Ukrainian узо
- узо (uzo)drink
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ouzo
All rhymes →Cite this entry
ouzo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ouzo
“ouzo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ouzo. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ouzo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ouzo.
Source: ouzo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.