Editing Soju (section)

== Etymology ==
''Soju'' ({{Korean|hangul=소주|hanja=燒酒|labels=no}}) means "burned [[liquor]]", with the first syllable, ''so'' ({{lang|ko|소}}; [[:wikt:燒|燒]]; "burn"), referring to the heat of [[distillation]] and the second syllable, ''ju'' ({{lang|ko|주}}; [[:wikt:酒|酒]]), meaning "alcoholic drink".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=195847|title=Soju|website=[[Standard Korean Language Dictionary]]|publisher=[[National Institute of Korean Language]]|language=ko|script-title=ko:소주|access-date=14 April 2017|archive-date=April 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415011618/http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=195847|url-status=dead}}</ref> Etymological dictionaries record that China's shaozhou (shāojiǔ, 烧酒), Japan's shochu (shōchū, 焼酎), and Korea's soju (soju, 燒酒) have the same etymology.<ref>{{Cite news|last=허|first=시명|date=August 13, 2019|script-title=ko:일제 강점기의 베스트셀러 술이 남긴 것|work=[[OhmyNews]]|url=http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/Series/series_premium_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002561830|access-date=May 23, 2021|archive-date=May 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523131945/http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/Series/series_premium_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002561830|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=See reliable sources list on [[WP:KO/RS]]|date=March 2025}} In 2008, "soju" was included in the [[Merriam-Webster Dictionary]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://gawker.com/5022982/merriam-websters-new-dictionary-words-for-2008|title=Merriam-Webster's new dictionary words for 2008|last=Boutin|first=Paul|date=8 July 2008|work=[[Gawker]]|access-date=22 November 2014|archive-date=September 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910000824/http://gawker.com/5022982/merriam-websters-new-dictionary-words-for-2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Merriam-Webster dated the word's appearance in the American English lexicon at 1951.<ref name="MW" /> In 2016, the word was included in the [[Oxford Dictionary of English]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/june-2016-update/new-words-list-june-2016/|title=New words list June 2016|website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|access-date=14 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414082403/http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/june-2016-update/new-words-list-june-2016/|archive-date=14 April 2017}} *{{cite web |author=Jonathan Dent |title=New words notes June 2016 |url=http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/june-2016-update/new-words-notes-june-2016/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629184023/http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/june-2016-update/new-words-notes-june-2016/ |archive-date=2016-06-29 |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]}}</ref>

Another name for soju is ''noju'' ({{Korean|hangul=노주|hanja=露酒|labels=no}}; "[[dew]] liquor"), with its first syllable, ''no/ro'' ({{lang|ko|노}}/{{lang|ko|로}}; [[wikt:露#Korean|露]]; "dew"), likening the droplets of the collected alcohol during the [[Distillation|distilling]] process to dewdrops.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=68412|title=noju|website=[[Standard Korean Language Dictionary]]|publisher=[[National Institute of Korean Language]]|language=ko|script-title=ko:노주|access-date=14 April 2017|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414163531/http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=68412|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzJ7_WcLJSwC&pg=PA118|title=Korean Cuisine: An Illustrated History|last=Pettid|first=Michael J.|publisher=[[Reaktion Books]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86189-348-2|location=London|pages=118|access-date=October 3, 2020|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424043424/https://books.google.com/books?id=wzJ7_WcLJSwC&pg=PA118|url-status=live}}</ref> Some soju brand names include ''iseul'' ({{lang|ko|이슬}}), the native-Korean word for "dew", or ''no/ro'' ({{Korean|hangul=로|hanja=露|labels=no}}), the [[Sino-Korean vocabulary|Sino-Korean word]] for "dew".

Soju is sometimes mistakenly referred to as ''[[Cheongju (beverage)|cheongju]]'' ({{Korean|hangul=청주|labels=no}}), a Korean [[rice wine]]. Mass-produced soju is also mistaken for Chinese ''[[baijiu]]'', a grain liquor, and ''[[shōchū]]'', a Japanese liquor.