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wassail. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
wassail, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
wassail in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Alternative forms
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 Monmounth's Historia Regum Britanniae (see page's citations).
Pronunciation
Noun
wassail (countable and uncountable, plural wassails)
- 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.
1813, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in Rokeby; a Poem, Edinburgh: or John Ballantyne and Co. ; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., , →OCLC:In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song.
- 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Phillip II
- The victors abandoned themselves to feasting and wassail.
1980, Ian Chappell, Chappelli has the last laugh, page 39:A blinding light against a garish blue sky made vision difficult, thanks to the previous night's wassail.
- A festive or drinking song or glee.
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 act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):Have you done your wassail? 'Tis a handsome, drowsy ditty, I'll assure you.
Translations
beverage served during a wassail
Verb
wassail (third-person singular simple present wassails, present participle wassailing, simple past and past participle wassailed)
- (transitive) 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.
2006, Ronald M. Clancy, Best-Loved Christmas Carols: The Stories Behind Twenty-Five Yuletide Favorites, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., published 2006, →ISBN, page 81: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.
Synonyms
- (go from house to house, singing carols): carol
Related terms
See also