sweet-watern.
1. (as two words) Fresh water (see sweet adj. 3b); attributive (usually with hyphen or as one word), living in or consisting of fresh water.
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the world > matter > liquid > water > [noun] > fresh
fresh waterOE
sweet-water1608
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 287 There was a magicall..vse of these Sweete-water-Tortoyces agaynst Hayle.
1861 Chambers's Encycl. II. 668/2 [Catabrosa] is sometimes called Whorl Grass, and sometimes Sweet Water Grass.
1872 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 11 Sweet-water springs.
1895 P. Hemingway Out of Egypt ii. 149 A party of women washing linen in some sweetwater canal.
a. (as two words, or with hyphen) A sweet-smelling liquid preparation; a liquid perfume or scent. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > [noun] > fragrant substance or perfume
pimentc1300
odoramentc1384
savouringc1384
odoura1425
aromatica1513
smella1533
fume1541
perfume1542
sweet-water?1543
scent1596
pomander1600
sweets1603
bisse1608
sweet-ball1617
plash1649
suffition1656
essence1661
odoratea1682
otto1822
aroma1830
nosegay1855
foo-foo1880
?1543 T. Phaer tr. N. de Houssemaine Treat. Pestilence vii. f. xxiii, in tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe As concernyng swete waters to spryncle vpon your clothes.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iv. 6 Call for sweet water wash thy hands. View more context for this quotation
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii.398/1 A small Chafer (which they [sc. barbers] use to carry about with them..) to carry their sweet water..in.
1769 Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 27 Nov. All sorts of sweet waters & fine pomatums.
1859 Habits Good Society (new ed.) ii. 125 Banish..every essence, cosmetic, or sweet-water from your toilet.
b. Technically applied to sweet liquids obtained as by-products in certain manufactures.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > [noun] > liquids
intinction1559
liquor1583
steep-water1838
sweet-water1885
process water1927
1885 W. L. Carpenter Treat. Manuf. Soap xiii. 295 (Glycerin) The whole is then blown out into a tank, and the ‘sweet-water’ is run off.
1910 Encycl. Brit. V. 178/2 [article Candles] On standing the product separates into two layers—‘sweet water’ containing glycerin below, and the fatty acids with a certain amount of lime soap above.
3. (with hyphen, or as one word) A variety of white grape, of specially sweet flavour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tree or plant producing edible berries > grape-vine > types of
wild vinea1382
malmsey1511
malvoisie1517
raisin1573
parsley vine1648
winter grape1670
morillon1691
summer grape1709
Pineau1763
tresseau1763
frost grape1771
muscadinec1785
sweet-water1786
chicken grape1807
scuppernong1811
Marsanne1824
Merlot1825
Cabernet1833
Isabella1835
mustang1846
Traminer1851
labrusca1854
Pinot1854
Catawba1857
Isabel1858
Trebbiano1860
aglianico1862
Canaiolo1862
verdelho1883
vinifera1888
Durif1897
Chardonnay1911
Chenin Blanc1913
Sylvaner1928
Syrah1928
Tokay wine1959
Mourvedre1967
1786 J. Abercrombie Arrangem. Plants 15 in Gardeners Daily Assistant Grapes... White sweet-water. Black sweet-water.
1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. p. xvi He affirmed that..he had never seen a sweet-water on a trellis growing so fairly..as a fox-grape over a scrub-oak in a swamp.
1865 G. A. Sala My Diary in Amer. II. v. 159 The black Hambros, or the juicy sweet~waters, or the fragrant muscatels.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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