cocktail

Meanings

Noun

• A mixed alcoholic beverage.
• A mixture of other substances or things.
• A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in its veins.
• A mean, half-hearted fellow.
• A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.

Adjective

• Ostentatiously lacking in manners.

Verb

• To adulterate (fuel, etc.) by mixing in other substances.
• To treat (a person) to cocktails.

Origin

• Unknown; many unproven stories exist. The word first appeared in 1806 (see citation below).