wassail · noun — A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
wassail is pronounced /ˈwɑseɪl/.
Why “wassail” is a great word
WASSAIL — [Noun, Verb] A salutation or toast to health, traditionally accompanied by spiced ale or wine, or the revelry associated with such drinking. From Middle English wassail, from Old Norse ves heill (“be healthy!”), from the imperative of vesa (“to be”) + heill (“healthy”). First attested in the early 12th century in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Unlike a general "toast"—a simple honoring gesture—or a "carouse," which implies raucous indulgence, wassail is a ceremonial invocation of communal wellbeing enacted in winter's depth. It is the clove-studded orange bobbing in a steaming bowl, the resonant cry at a frost-laced door, and the shared cup passing from hand to chapped hand—a ritual warmth conjured from spiced liquor and human fellowship, a fleeting spell against the long, silent night.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English wassail, from Old Norse ves heill (“be healthy!”), from the imperative of vesa (“to be”) + heill (“healthy”). The earliest documented use of the term is from the first part of the 12th century CE, in Geoffroy of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (see page's citations).
noun
- A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.
- The beverage served during a wassail, especially one made of ale or wine flavoured with spices, sugar, roasted apples, etc.
- Revelry.e.g.“In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song.” — 1813, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in Rokeby; a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or John Ballantyne and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →
- A festive or drinking song or glee.e.g.“Have you done your wassail? 'Tis a handsome, drowsy ditty, I'll assure you.” — 1606, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Woman-Hater”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, (please specify the ac
verb
- To toast, to drink to the health of another.e.g.“The next morning he much regretted the gusto with which he had wassailed the night before.”
- To drink wassail.
- To go from house to house at Christmastime, singing carols.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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