wine, women and song

noun

A hedonistic behavior or lifestyle.

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Meanings

nounwine, women and song pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyA hedonistic behavior or lifestyle.

Origin

Attested in classical and medieval Latin, and similar variants also existed in English verse and proverbs such as "Weemen, dise and drinke, lets him nothing" (1576). The exact phrase itself first appeared in a German folk song in 1602 ("Wein, Weib, und Gesang"). First attested in English in Henry Bohn's 1857 translation of Karl Joseph Simrock's proverb collection Die deutschen Sprichwörte. The proverb was popularized by the 1899 publication of Wine, Women and Song, Medieval Latin Student Songs by John Addington Symonds.

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Translations

German Wein, Weib und Gesang
  • Wein, Weib und Gesanghedonistic behavior
Latin venus, vina, musica
  • venus, vina, musicahedonistic behavior
Swedish vin, kvinnor och sång
  • vin, kvinnor och sånghedonistic behavior
Cite this entry
APA

wine, women and song. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wine%2C%20women%20and%20song

MLA

“wine, women and song.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wine%2C%20women%20and%20song. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wine, women and song,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wine%2C%20women%20and%20song.

Source: wine, women and song on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.