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"It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth," wrote the 1st-century A.D. Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder. The truth about the word wine is that it goes back to Latin vinum, but it is also a distant relative of the Greek word for wine, which is oinos. Indeed, Latin borrowed from the Greek to create a combining form that means "wine," oeno-. Modern French speakers combined oeno- with -phile (Greek for "lover of") to create oenophile before we adopted it from them in the mid-1800s. Oenophiles are sure to know oenology (now more often spelled enology) as the science of wine making and oenologist (now more often enologist) for one versed in oenology.
Examples of oenophile in a Sentence
Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 13 Jan. 2025
Renowned Italian wine brand Ruffino is welcoming oenophiles to stay overnight at the winery’s Poggio Casciano Estate for the first time ever.
—Emma Kershaw, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
And then there are the ballooning crowds to contend with during special events: foodies and oenophiles during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, horticultural enthusiasts during the Flower and Garden Festival.
—Darryn King, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Gourmets, oenophiles, and aviation aficionados will all find something to love at Quinta do Paral, a new hotel in a wine-making region of Portugal
August 17, 2024
Reading Time: 3 minutes
In Alentejo, a wine-grape-growing region in central Portugal, storks possibly outnumber people.
—Mary Lussiana, airmail.news, 17 Aug. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near oenophile
Cite this Entry
“Oenophile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oenophile. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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