# arak

Pronunciation: say "uh-RAK" /əˈɹæk/

## Noun

1. A clear, unsweetened alcoholic drink flavored with aniseed, made and drunk mainly in the Levant.
   - Simple: A clear alcoholic drink that is not sweet and tastes of aniseed, made mostly in Lebanon and nearby countries.
   - _Every fall the villagers distill their own arak after the grape harvest._
   - _The restaurant served chilled arak alongside a long table of mezze._
2. Alternative spelling of arrack, an alcoholic drink distilled from coconut palm flowers or sugar cane. — Alternative spelling of arrack (an alcoholic drink distilled from coconut palm flowers or sugar cane)
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of arrack. Arrack is an alcoholic drink made from palm flowers or sugar cane.
   - _The shop in Colombo stocked several brands of arak distilled from the flowers of the coconut palm._
   - _The bartender added a splash of Indonesian arak, made from sugar cane and red rice, to the punch._
3. The toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica), whose twigs are used to clean and polish the teeth.
   - Simple: A tree whose small branches people use like a toothbrush to clean their teeth.
   - _Twigs of arak, frayed at one end, served the travelers as toothbrushes._
   - _The market stall sold bundles of arak sticks for cleaning teeth._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — From Arabic عَرَق (ʕaraq, “sweat”), a reference to the liquid that condenses during distillation. It is a doublet of ara, raki, and rakija.
**Meaning 3** — From Arabic أَرَاك (ʔarāk).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/arak (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).