seltzer

[ selt-ser ]

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a naturally effervescent mineral water containing common salt and small quantities of sodium, calcium, and magnesium carbonates.
2. tap water that has been commercially filtered, carbonated, and bottled with no addition of minerals or mineral salts.

Seltzer

/ ˈsɛltsə /

noun

1. a natural effervescent water with a high content of minerals
2. a similar synthetic water, used as a beverage

Word History and Origins

Origin of seltzer¹

1735–45; < German Selterser named after Selters, a village near Wiesbaden; -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of seltzer¹

C18: changed from German Selterser Wasser water from ( Nieder ) Selters, district where mineral springs are located, near Wiesbaden, Germany

Example Sentences

Inside the cooler, authorities found soft drinks, seltzers, bottles of water and multiple packages of raw beef stuffed with 11 pounds of fentanyl, which they valued at $500,000.

From Los Angeles Times

“Regulate it, put it on the shelves near beer, wine or hard seltzer, age-gate it, and tax it like an adult beverage, regulate it like an adult beverage. And everybody wins.”

From Los Angeles Times

But do most adaptogenic drink consumers see these beverages as explicitly medicinal, or are they simply weighing their options and picking something less altering than a beer and more novel than a seltzer?

From Los Angeles Times

I drank seltzer at weddings and took my 83-year-old father to stressful doctors’ appointments without later unwinding with a martini.

From Los Angeles Times

Starting this month, convenience stores, big-box stores and grocers will all be eligible to sell wine, beer, cider and ready-to-drink cocktails like hard seltzers.

From BBC

Related Words

• drink