Cordial

A preparation that is stimulating to the heart.


The fruit-flavoured liqueurs known as cordials take their name from the Latin cor, meaning heart, so named because cordials were thought to invigorate the heart. The Latin cor is also the source of concord, literally meaning united heart, and of courage, the heart being the seat of courage. Surprisingly, however, cor is not the source of coronary, a synonym for heart attack; instead, coronary actually derives from corona, a Latin word meaning crown, the connection being that the heart is encircled by a “crown” of arteries and blood vessels. As the name of the liqueur, cordial entered English in the late fourteenth century; a hundred years later, in the late fifteenth century, the word also came to describe anyone with a sincere, warm, and “hearty” personality. This sense eventually paled somewhat, so that by the late eighteenth century cordial had simply come to mean pleasant or even just polite.


A stimulant or tonic.


A stimulating beverage.


A pleasantly fragrant and flavorful alcoholic beverage, defined as one primarily designed to stimulate the heart’s action. It is now occasionally utilized to describe a spirit sweetened and infused with flavor after, rather than during, the distillation process, as opposed to a liqueur. Nevertheless, the usage of these terms is frequently interchanged, particularly since both cordials and liqueurs are typically imbibed in minuscule amounts following a meal, generally the evening repast.


Cordial is a type of spirit that is infused with sweet fruit or other ingredients to provide a unique flavor and fragrance. The term “cordial” originally meant “of or belonging to the heart” and was thought to have a stimulating effect on the heart. However, this product is now more commonly known as a liqueur.


 


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