<P> Distilled beverages generally have an alcohol concentration higher than 30% . Beer and wine, which are not distilled beverages, are limited to a maximum alcohol content of about 20% ABV, as most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is above this level; as a consequence, fermentation ceases at that point . </P> <P> The origin of "liquor" and its close relative "liquid" was the Latin verb liquere, meaning "to be fluid". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an early use of the word in the English language, meaning simply "a liquid", can be dated to 1225 . The first use the OED mentions of its meaning "a liquid for drinking" occurred in the 14th century . Its use as a term for "an intoxicating alcoholic drink" appeared in the 16th century . </P> <P> The term "spirit" in reference to alcohol stems from Middle Eastern alchemy . These alchemists were more concerned with medical elixirs than with transmuting lead into gold . The vapor given off and collected during an alchemical process (as with distillation of alcohol) was called a spirit of the original material . </P> <P> Distillation was known in the ancient Indian subcontinent, evident from baked clay retorts and receivers found at Taxila and Charsadda in modern Pakistan, dating back to the early centuries of the Common Era . These "Gandhara stills" were only capable of producing very weak liquor, as there was no efficient means of collecting the vapors at low heat . </P>

Where does the term spirits for alcohol come from