libation means the act of pouring a liquid, most often wine, in sacrifice on the ground, on a ritual object, or on a victim, in honor of some deity.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, libation ranks #7,170 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
libation is pronounced /laɪˈbeɪʃən/.
Why “libation” is a great word
A ritual act of pouring a liquid, especially wine, as an offering to a deity, or the beverage itself. From Latin lībātiō ("a drink offering"), from lībāre ("to pour out as an offering, to taste"), first attested in English in the late 14th century. Unlike "sacrifice," which implies the offering or destruction of a more substantial thing, or a "toast," which is a purely social gesture, a libation is the specific, deliberate surrender of something sustaining to powers unseen. It is the wine darkening the dust at a crossroads shrine, the milk streaming down temple steps in the morning light, the oil catching flame in a stone bowl—each a small, flowing acknowledgment that what nourishes us is not ours alone to keep.
Etymology
From Latin lībātiō, from lībāre (“to take a little from anything, to taste, to pour out as an offering”).
noun
- The act of pouring a liquid, most often wine, in sacrifice on the ground, on a ritual object, or on a victim, in honor of some deity.“While we to Jove the pure libations pay,
Than Jove what apter claims the hallow'd lay?”
- The wine or liquid thus poured out.
- A beverage, especially an alcoholic one.“[…] watching you, the waiters, not quite making eye-contact but scanning for any little way to be of service, plus plum-jacketed sommeliers walking around to see if you need a non-buffet libation…”
Words closest in meaning
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