kirsch

Kirsch is a German abbreviation that English picked up wholesale.‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍ The full compound Kirschwasser literally means cherry water — a fitting name for the clear, transparent eau-de-vie distilled from fermented black cherries (and, traditionally, their stones, which give the spirit its faintly almondy bitterness). The drink is associated with the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany and adjacent Switzerland, where cherry orchards and small distilleries have produced it since at least the 17th century. English adopted kirsch (without the wasser) in 1869, just as continental cuisine was becoming fashionable in Victorian London — fondues, Black Forest gateaux, and cherries jubilee all rely on a splash. Etymologically, Kirsche traces back through Old High German kirsa to Late Latin ceresia and Greek kerasion, and the cherry itself is named after the ancient Pontic city of Kerasus (now Giresun in Turkey), where the Romans first encountered cultivated cherries.