"Cocktail" is an odd term to describe a mixed alcholic drink, and I went searching for the reason it came to be so applied. I found nine different explanations, none of which the experts can agree holds water (or gin, or whiskey).
First is the theory that it is derived from the French
coquetier, or egg cup. According to this theory, the cocktail was invented in New Orleans, in about 1795, by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, an apothecary from Santo Domingo. Peychaud would serve brandy toddies to which he would add his own mixture of bitters and which he would serve in an egg cup. The drink acquired the name of the cup, but English speaking guests would call it a cocktay, which eventually became the cocktail.
Second is the explanation that the word derives from the French
coquetel, a drink known in the Bordeaux region for several centuries. The drink, and its name, were introduced to America by French officers during the American Revolution.
Third is the theory that
cocktail is derived from cock-ale, a drink popular in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. To a cask of new ale was added a sack containing an old rooster, mashed to a pulp [ewwwww], raisins, mace, and cloves, and the mixture was allowed to infuse for a week or so [but why?].
Fourth is the explanation given that it comes from cock-bread-ale, a mixture of stale bread, ale, and bitters that was fed to fighting cocks, and often taken by their handlers as well.
Fifth is the explanation that it is so called because it is a drink that will "cock your tail."
Sixth is the theory that it comes from cocktailings. The dregs of various casks would be drained out of the cocks, or valves, mixed together and sold as a cheap drink.
Seventh is the explanation is that it came from the practice of toasting the victor in a cockfight. Into the drinks would be inserted a number of feathers corresponding to the number of feathers left in the cock's tail.
Eighth is the explanation that an Aztec noble, in an attempt to curry favor, sent the emperor a drink by the hand of his daughter, Xochitl. The emperor liked the drink so much that he married the daughter and named the concoction after her. The term was introduced to the United States by soldiers returning from the Mexican War. This explanation is very likely false ... the OED2 has cites of
cocktail in use as early as 1806, some forty years before the Mexican War.
Ninth is the theory that during Prohibition it was customary to place a feather (presumably from a cock's tail) in the drink to serve both as decoration and as a signal to teetotalers that the beverage contained alcohol.
From:
http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorc.htmand
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/CocktailSo, has anybody found any other term with as many or more possible etymologies?
OP
