According to the Oxford Dictionary the origin of.. - text for correction (proofreading) from user language learner

According to the Oxford Dictionary the origin of the word liquor was from the Latin verb liquere which means to be fluid. It is an alcoholic drink, especially distilled drink or beverage. It contains ethanol produced by distilling, (i. e. , Concentration by distilling). Ethanol is made by means of fermenting grains, fruits and vegetables to obtain drinks Such as vodka, gin, tequila, rum, whiskey and brandy. Its chemical formula is C2H5OH. They are also named Spirits which refers to beverages that contain no added sugar and have at least 20% alcohol by volume, which exclude fermented drinks like beer, wine and cider. The percentage of alcohol is one of the main differences between a distilled and a fermented beverage. The former contains at least 20 % of alcohol whereas the latter does not exceed that quantity. The word alcohol is of Arabic derivation: al-kohl and it was an Arabian alchemist known as Gerber who produced the first recorded distilled drink in history in about 800 A. D. It was a great transformation in alchemy and had mainly a scientific value. But for hundreds of years Gerber’s liquid remained unknown for the western civilization. Then, at the end of the thirteenth century a French chemist named Arnauld de Villeneuve developed Gerber’s methods and used them to fermented wine and he called it “the water of immortality. ” Because he thought that it could prolong his life. After that, alcohol use was still limited to medical purposes. But in the sixteenth century, alcohol was used by the masses in Europe during specific periods and circumstances. This was during the French Wars of Religion and Revolt of the Netherlands. At that time Europe was experiencing great agitation of religious refugees and political murders. People had learned that alcohol, more than wine, could warm the bodies and offer comfort from despair. The seventeenth century had brought the distilled spirits into a general social use. In the middle of that century the English were distilling from grain, they produced four million gallons in 1694. In colonial America, liquor was widely used and became a social and cultural constituent of the Americans’ life. It was honored as a medicine for almost every disease. Moreover, it was called aqua vitae, the water of life and the good creature of God. It was considered as a blessing and a redeemer drink which help people to forget their sorrow.
An idea inspired from the Book of Proverbs (proverbs of Solomon, the second book of the third section of the Bible): “and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. ” In that period to refuse a drink in New England was to deny God. Autumn and winter holydays bring to the American tables all kind of drinks. Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year are moments when the consumption of liquor increased. It was a social drink widely used in events such as christening, weddings, funerals and trials. All the members of the community drank. They could not imagine celebrating these traditions without sharing a glass of wine with friends. Colonial Americans believed that alcohol could cure the sick, strengthen the weak and give energy to the aged. They thought that alcohol was healthful to their minds. Drink kept people warm, helped digestion. For them, not only alcohol prevented health troubles, but it could even cure them. That was why they took Whiskey for colic and laryngitis (stomach pain and sore throat) and hot Brandy was used for cholera. Even pregnant women and those in labor drank to relieve their pain. Many of them drank alcohol in the morning, at lunch and dinner. Workers drank in the fields, the sailors in the sea, soldiers in the camp and even students had the right to drink which explained why Harvard had its own brewery. In 1639, when the school did not supply sufficient beer, President Nathaniel Eaton lost his job. The founding fathers as well enjoyed drinking. John Adams used to start his days with hard glass of cider. Thomas Jefferson imported fine drinks from France. At that time no one cared about what other people could think about their alcoholic habits as a Georgian wrote: “if I take a settler after my coffee, a cooler at nine, a bracer at ten, a whetter at eleven and two or three stiffners during the forenoon, who has any right to complain” The Dutch was the first to open a brewery in New Amsterdam in 1612. Through time distilled beverages spread all over the place. The raw materials were available as plums, apples and blackberries. Distilled spirits were more successful because they could be kept longer than beer or cider thanks to their concentration of alcohol. They were easy to transport and store, that was why Rum became very successful in America. The latter was the king of drinks before the revolution. By 1770, the colonies had more than 140 distilleries making about 4. 8 million gallons per year.

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