*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of grog

An allusion to Admiral Edward Vernon (nicknamed “Old Grog” after the grogram coat he habitually wore), who in 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be watered down. Alternatively, from Old Catalan grog or groch, modern groc,

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To grind and screen (clay) to a specific particle size. · To drink alcohol.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

An allusion to Admiral Edward Vernon (nicknamed “Old Grog” after the grogram coat he habitually wore), who in 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be watered down. Alternatively, from Old Catalan grog or groch, modern groc, meaning "yellow" (ultimately from Latin crocum (“saffron”); after the name of the resulting color of the watered down rum sold all over the Mediterranean. The ration of rum tot could also come from Catalan tot meaning "full", "whole".

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentiongrogroa-oca
  • Derivation mentioncrocumla
  • Derivation mentiontotca
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "roa-oca",
        "3": "grog"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Catalan grog"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "crocum",
        "4": "",
        "5": "saffron"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin crocum (“saffron”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ca",
        "3": "tot"
      },
      "expansion": "Catalan tot"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "grogram",
      "grogram"
    ],
    [
      "grog",
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    ],
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      "groch#Old_Catalan"
    ],
    [
      "groc",
      "groc#Catalan"
    ],
    [
      "crocum",
      "crocum#Latin"
    ],
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      "tot",
      "tot#English"
    ],
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      "tot",
      "tot#Catalan"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To grind and screen (clay) to a specific particle size.",
        "To drink alcohol."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "intransitive",
        "slang"
      ],
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}

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
noun

An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy. · An alcoholic beverage made with hot water or tea, sugar and rum, sometimes also with lemon or lime juice and spices, particularly cinnamon. · Any alcoholic beverage. · A glass or serving of an alcoholic beverage.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

An allusion to Admiral Edward Vernon (nicknamed “Old Grog” after the grogram coat he habitually wore), who in 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be watered down. Alternatively, from Old Catalan grog or groch, modern groc, meaning "yellow" (ultimately from Latin crocum (“saffron”); after the name of the resulting color of the watered down rum sold all over the Mediterranean. The ration of rum tot could also come from Catalan tot meaning "full", "whole".

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Derivation mentiongrogroa-oca
  • Derivation mentioncrocumla
  • Derivation mentiontotca

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "roa-oca",
        "3": "grog"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Catalan grog"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "crocum",
        "4": "",
        "5": "saffron"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin crocum (“saffron”)"
    },
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    ],
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      "groc#Catalan"
    ],
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      "crocum#Latin"
    ],
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      "tot",
      "tot#English"
    ],
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      "tot",
      "tot#Catalan"
    ]
  ],
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  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "lang_code": "hy",
      "word": "գրոգ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grog"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "lang_code": "az",
      "word": "qroq",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Belarusian",
      "lang_code": "be",
      "word": "грог",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "hroh"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "word": "грог",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grog"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "lang_code": "ca",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang_code": "zh",
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "word": "格羅格酒"
        },
        {
          "lang": "Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "word": "格罗格酒",
          "tags": [
            "Simplified-Chinese"
          ]
        },
        {
          "lang": "Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "word": "格罗格酒",
          "roman": "géluógé jiǔ"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "word": "grogi",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "descendants": [
        {
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "lang_code": "ro",
          "word": "grog",
          "raw_tags": [
            "borrowed"
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "lang_code": "ka",
      "word": "გროგი",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grogi"
    },
    {
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "word": "Grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "lang_code": "he",
      "word": "גְּרוֹג",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grog"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Italian",
      "lang_code": "it",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "グロッグ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "guroggu"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "word": "그로그",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "geurogeu"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "lang_code": "mk",
      "word": "грог",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grog"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "lang_code": "pt",
      "word": "grogue",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "word": "грог",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "grog"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "word": "grog",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "lang_code": "uk",
      "word": "грог",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "hroh"
    }
  ],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
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        "An alcoholic beverage made with rum and water, especially that once issued to sailors of the Royal Navy.",
        "An alcoholic beverage made with hot water or tea, sugar and rum, sometimes also with lemon or lime juice and spices, particularly cinnamon.",
        "Any alcoholic beverage.",
        "A glass or serving of an alcoholic beverage."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for grog →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
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Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Z3JvZw