Cider: Origin of the Word That Identifies a Truly Special Drink

The history of cider is fascinating and ancient, as is the origin of the word cider.

Some historical texts state that the history of cider began about fifty million years ago, when the first apple trees started producing the first fruits on earth.
Certainly, making cider, in its most elementary and original form, is a simple process that could have been performed as soon as humans discovered fermentation.
In this original form, to make cider it is enough to follow these steps:

• collect the apples,
• crush the apples to obtain a pulp,
• press and filter the pulp,
• collect the raw juice.

At this point, upon contact with air, the yeast starts the process of converting the sugars in the apple juice into alcohol.

Cider: Origin of the Word Cider and Cider

What is the origin of the word cider?

In Hebrew, the root of cider is “shekhar,” which in turn derives from the Akkadian (ancient Babylonian) word for barley beer, “sikkaru.”
There is some rivalry within the historical community of biblical libations over whether the Hebrew “shekhar” meant something more like ancient beer or ancient liquor, but it is generally translated in more modern translated Bibles as “strong drink.”

When the Old Testament changed its language from Hebrew to Greek to widespread Latin, “shekhar” had transformed into “sicera,” which eventually became the Old French “cisdre” and, finally, “cidre.”

In the transition from French to English, something changed. When the French conquered England in 1100 (the Norman invasion of Britain), “cider” entered the English language, but a seemingly unrelated word, “béor,” fell out of use.

One might think by assonance that the word “béor” was equivalent to today’s “beer” but, in reality, the word “beer” returned to the English language only in the 1500s, from the German “bier,” around the same time German lager was initially invented, four hundred years after the death of “béor.”

So it is very likely that the Old English word for “cider” was “béor.” At the time, however, both words “cider” and “béor” were generally used to refer to strong and sweet fruit or honey-based drinks.

As you can guess, the history of cider is very long and involved many peoples. The process of grinding and fermenting apples has been practiced and perfected by Spanish, French, and English apple growers since ancient times.