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Vinony

wassail

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L307283 on Wikidata ↗

verb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L333476 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈwɑseɪl/ / /ˈwɒseɪl/ / /ˈwɒsl/

noun

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).

  1. A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.
  2. The beverage served during a wassail, especially one made of ale or wine flavoured with spices, sugar, roasted apples, etc.

    “Add ſugar, nutmeg and ginger, / VVith ſtore of ale too; / And thus ye muſt doe / To make the vvaſſaile a ſvvinger.”

  3. Revelry.

    “In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song.”

    “The victors abandoned themselves to feasting and wassail.”

  4. A festive or drinking song or glee.

    “Have you done your wassail? 'Tis a handsome, drowsy ditty, I'll assure you.”

verb

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).

  1. 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.”

  2. To drink wassail.
  3. To go from house to house at Christmastime, singing carols.

    “Schoolchildren around the globe have gleefully sung Torches at Christmastime for half a century. Many of those in Birmingham have wassailed the carol at the front door of a cosy Victorian house in Moseley, unaware that behind that front door lives its composer.”

    “During the Christmas season, carolers traveled from house to house, bringing good wishes and carrying an empty bowl. The master of the house being wassailed was expected to fill the bowl with hot, spicy ale.”