Uisce beatha
Uisce beatha, is the name for whiskey in Irish. From Old Irish uisce "water", and bethu "life". The equivalent in Scottish Gaelic is rendered uisge-beatha. The word "whiskey" or "whisky" itself is simply an anglicised version of this phrase, stemming from a mispronunciation of the word uisce in Ireland or uisge in Scotland. According to the Whiskey Museum in Dublin, Ireland, the different spelling began as a marketing decision - other companies followed the trend, the extra e was regardless a late addition as ‘The Truths About Whisky’ published in 1879 by the big four biggest Dublin distillers omits it. This development may in turn have influenced the Modern Irish word fuisce. The phrase uisce beatha, literally "water of life", was the name given by Irish monks of the early Middle Ages to distilled alcohol. It is simply a translation of the Latin aqua vitae.
