shochu

S1H4O1C3H4U1

noun

A Japanese alcoholic beverage, most commonly distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice. Typically it is 25% alcohol by volume, making it weaker than whisky, but stronger than wine and sake.

OriginMiddle Chinese 燒酒 →
RareScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounshochu (usually uncountable, plural shochus)

plural shochus · alternative shōchū

  1. uncountableusuallyA Japanese alcoholic beverage, most commonly distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice. Typically it is 25% alcohol by volume, making it weaker than whisky, but stronger than wine and sake.

    Lightly flavored shochus, like the barley-based Iichiko, are good mixed with soda water made on the premises with fresh lemon or in a cocktail like the Natsushima […]

    2022, Steve Reddicliffe, The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails (Second Edition) (page 582)

Origin

  1. Middle Chinese燒酒
  2. Englishshochu

From Japanese 焼(しょう)酎(ちゅう) (shōchū), from Middle Chinese 燒酒 (syew tsjuw^X), from 燒 /烧 (shāo, “burn; flammable”) + 酒 (jiǔ, “alcohol”). Compare Mandarin 烧酒 (shāojiǔ), and Korean 소주 (soju). Doublet of shaojiu and soju.

More words from Middle Chinese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shochu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shochu

MLA

“shochu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shochu. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shochu,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shochu.

Source: shochu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.