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

Lightly peated, this is a very memorable whisky that balances a delicate smokiness with the unmistakable sweetness of sherry cask influence. —Paul Caputo, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024

The scents rising through their sherry casks were divine. —Keyaira Boone, Travel + Leisure, 17 Dec. 2024

Dobel launched the series launched in 2022 to celebrate founder Juan Domingo Beckmann’s birthday with 1967, a tequila finished in sherry casks. —Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 10 Dec. 2024

This unique Scotch whiskey features a rare new blend crafted by Master Blender Emma Walker, aged in a mix of woods including ex-American bourbon casks and some wine and sherry casks. —Tim Chan, Variety, 10 Dec. 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named for Xeres (now spelled Jerez), a city in Spain where the wine was originally made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.