On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from vinegar cole slaw article title. Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings.

As the most easily manufactured mild acid, it has a wide variety of industrial and domestic uses, including use as a household cleaner. While vinegar making may be as old as alcoholic brewing, the first documented evidence of vinegar making and use was by the ancient Babylonians around 3000 BC. They primarily made vinegar from dates, figs, and beer and used it for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The Greeks and Romans frequently used vinegar made from wine.

The Spartans had vinegar as a part of their traditional broth melas zomos. The Roman Columella described the ingredients and process for making several types of vinegar in his work Res Rustica. In the late Middle Ages, vinegar making was slowly being professionalized in Europe, with the French city of Orléans becoming particularly famous for the quality of its vinegar through a formalized fermentation and aging process, which became known as the Orléans process. In the 19th century, vinegar production underwent many dramatic changes, such as rapid industrialization and scientific analysis.