wassail

was·sail

a salutation formerly given in drinking the health of a person, as at a festivity
the spiced ale or other liquor with which such healths were drunk
a celebration with much drinking, esp. at Christmastime; carousal

Origin of wassail

ME, earlier wæs hæil from Old Norse ves heill, literally , be hale, be hearty (replacing Old English wes hal, literally , be whole)

to drink wassails
Brit. to go caroling from house to house at Christmastime

to drink to the health or prosperity of

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MLA Style

"wassail." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/wassail>.

APA Style

wassail. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/wassail

wassail

noun

a. A salutation or toast given in drinking someone's health or as an expression of goodwill at a festivity.
b. The drink used in such toasting, commonly ale or wine spiced with roasted apples and sugar.
A festivity characterized by much drinking.

verb

was·sailed, was·sail·ing, was·sails

verb

transitive

To drink to the health of; toast.

verb

intransitive

To engage in or drink a wassail.

Origin of wassail

Middle English contraction of wæshæil be healthy from Old Norse ves heill ves imperative sing. of vera to be ; see wes-¹ in Indo-European roots. heill healthy ; see kailo- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

was′sail·er
noun

Word History: Wassail is an English holiday drink consisting of spiced mulled wine, ale, or some other fermented beverage such as hard cider or mead. The word is also used as a verb: to drink someone's health, especially in the course of traveling around one's neighborhood, singing songs at neighbors' houses and receiving food and drink in return, is to wassail —as in the traditional carol “Here We Come A-Wassailing.”¶Both the noun wassail and its associated verb come from one of the most popular expressions used in medieval England in toasting someone's health. The Middle English toast Wæshæil! comes from the Old Norse salutation Ves heill! which had been brought to Britain by the invading Danes in the 9th Century AD. The Anglo-Saxons, for their part, had a corresponding salutation, Wes þū hāl! which they used as a general greeting—variations of it can be found in Beowulf ( Wæs þū, Hro&edh;gar, hāl! says the young hero when he meets King Hrothgar) and in the West Saxon Gospels (at the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel greets Mary with Hāl wes þū! ).¶These greetings and toasts literally mean “Be healthy!”—a sentiment that survives in the Modern English toast To your health! and in many toasts in other languages, such as the Spanish Salud! and the French Santé! which both simply mean “health.” The Old English hāl, incidentally, means not only “healthy” (it is the origin of Modern English hale ) but also “undamaged, entire” (it is also the origin of the word whole ).

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"wassail." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/wassail>.

APA Style

wassail. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/wassail

Noun

(plural wassails)

A toast to health, usually at a festival.
The beverage served during a wassail, especially one made of ale or wine flavoured with spices, sugar, roasted apples, etc.
Revelry.
A festive or drinking song or glee.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present wassails, present participle wassailing, simple past and past participle wassailed)

To toast, to drink to the health of another.
The next morning he much regretted the gusto with which he had wassailed the night before.
(intransitive) To drink wassail.
To go from house to house at Christmastime, singing carols.

Origin

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 1275.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.