wassail

English

WOTD – 25 December 2012, 25 December 2014

Alternative forms

wasseil

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

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑseɪl/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒseɪl/, /ˈwɒsl/, /ˈwæsl/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɑseɪl, -ɒseɪl, -ɒsəl, -æsəl

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.
- 1648, Robert Herrick, “Twelfe Night, or King and Queene”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 377:
  Add ſugar, nutmeg and ginger, / VVith ſtore of ale too; / And thus ye muſt doe / To make the vvaſſaile a ſvvinger.
Revelry.
- 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., […], →OCLC:
  In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song.
- 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
  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.

Descendants

→ Welsh: gwasael

Translations

beverage served during a wassail

German: Glühwein (de), Glühbier, Glühmost
Greek: ευωχία (el) f (evochía)
Welsh: gwirod m or f, gwasael m or f

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.
- 2002 February 21, Christopher Morley, “Culture: Children carry a torch for carol king; John Joubert will be 75 next month”, in The Birmingham Post:
  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.
- 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.
- 2010 December 26, Burton Cole, “Holiday mysteries to roast in your wassail”, in Tribune Chronicle:
  "I wish someone would come to my house and wassail!" Jessica P. of Howland said.

Synonyms

(go from house to house, singing carols): carol

Related terms

hail