Andalusian town (modern Jerez) famous for its wine; see sherry. For first letter, see xebec.
Entries linking to xeres
sherry n.
kind of white wine, originally from the south of Spain, c. 1600, a mistaken singular from sherris (1530s), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres "(wine from) Xeres," modern Jerez (Roman urbs Caesaris) in Spain, near the port of Cadiz, in the district where the wine was made.
xebec n.
"small three-masted vessel," favored by Barbary corsairs but also used in Mediterranean trade, by 1745, from French chébec, from Italian sciabecco, ultimately from Arabic shabbak "a small warship." Altered by influence of cognate Spanish xabeque, which shows the old way of representing the Spanish sound now spelled -j-.