cider

noun

ci·​der ˈsī-dər 

1

: fermented apple juice often made sparkling by carbonation or fermentation in a sealed container

2

: the expressed juice of fruit (such as apples) used as a beverage or for making other products (such as applejack)

Examples of cider in a Sentence

a cup of apple cider

Recent Examples on the Web

Use Natural Deterrents From Your Pantry To keep the rodents out of your yard for long periods, Schoenberg recommends sprinkling deterrents like hot cayenne, garlic, apple cider, peppermint, or coffee grounds around your plants and gardens. — Nashia Baker, Martha Stewart, 25 June 2026

In January 2025, Prince William stopped by a Wetherspoon pub at Birmingham New Street railway station to partake in a pint of cider with fellow Aston Villa football fans. — Eva Wolchover, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026

Because safe drinking water wasn't always available, fermented and brewed beverages like beer and cider were commonly consumed. — Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 22 June 2026

Stowe is also home to producers of craft cheese, cider and several breweries, including Alchemist, one of the highest rated on the planet. — Larry Olmsted, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English sider, sedyr, cidre "alcoholic drink (in Biblical translations and references), cider," borrowed from Anglo-French sizre, ciser, cydre, going back to Gallo-Romance *cīsera, by metathesis form of Late Latin (Vulgate) sīcera "alcoholic drink," borrowed from Greek (Septuagint) síkera, borrowed from Hebrew shēkhār, from a Semitic base š-k-r, whence Hebrew shākhar "become drunk," Arabic sikara

Note: The medieval French form sizre is attested once, in the 12th-century Cambridge, or Eadwine Psalter, where it appears as a translation of the Latin siceram in Psalm 68:14 (the Vulgate has vinum in this passage). (For other medieval outcomes and modern dialect forms see Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, v. 11, pp. 589-90.) Presumably *cīs(ĕ)ra yielded *tsizdra, which with loss of the internal sibilant yielded cidre (see Pierre Fouché, Phonétique historique du français, vol. 3 [Paris: Klincksieck, 1966], p. 822). Latin sīcera and its vernacular outcomes were likely disseminated and applied to the fermented juice of fruit, especially apples, in monasteries, particularly in non-wine-producing areas of Europe such as Normandy; Norman localization would also account for the thorough penetration of the word into Anglo-French.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cider

• cider vinegar
• hard cider

Rhymes for cider

• cyder
• eider
• glider
• hider
• rider
• schneider
• slider
• snider
• spider
• stridor
• wider
• collider

Kids Definition

cider

noun

ci·​der ˈsīd-ər 

: the juice pressed out of fruit (as apples) and used especially as a drink and in the making of vinegar