sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a Spanish fortified wine with a distinctive nutty flavor

also : a similar wine produced elsewhere

Examples of sherry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What to order: Signature drinks like the Cantaloupe Gibson, made with pisco, cantaloupe, manzanilla sherry, grapefruit bitters and rose water, pull a boozy, yet deliciously refreshing punch. —Isabelle Kliger, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

Sherry vinegar: Sherry is a classic flavor in French onion soup, and sherry vinegar gives the flavor without adding any alcohol. —Elizabeth Nelson, Southern Living, 3 Nov. 2024

The mackerel escabeche is layered with sherry, spicy ají limón chile, and meyer lemon, and its plating recalls the afternoon sun moving across the sky. —Caroline Hatchett, Robb Report, 1 Nov. 2024

Siren's Song: Whiskey, rum and sherry join pineapple, lime and Caribbean bitters for a spooky island effect. —Jessica Boehm, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier sherris (taken as plural), from Xeres (now Jerez), Spain

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

sherry

noun

sher·​ry ˈsher-ē 

plural sherries

: a wine with a nutty flavor

Etymology

named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made

Word Origin

It is common to name wines after the part of a country where they are made. The wine called sherry today was first made in a town originally called, in Spanish, Xeres. The English approximation of the Spanish pronunciation was \ˈsher-ēz\, spelled sherris. After a time, people thought that sherris was a plural and so made a singular form, sherry, by cutting off the supposed plural ending. The \sh\ sound symbolized by x in Spanish (later by j) changed to a \ḵ\ or \h\, so that the modern Spanish pronunciation of Jerez is even less like English sherry.