wassailn.

Brit.

/ˈwɒseɪl/,

/ˈwaseɪl/,

/ˈwɒs(ə)l/,

/ˈwas(ə)l/, U.S.

/ˈwɑsəl/,

/ˈwɑˌseɪl/

Forms: Middle English wæs hæil, wæshail, washayl, washail, wesseyl, Middle English, 1600s wassayl, Middle English, 1500s–1600s, 1800s archaic wassaile, Middle English wassaylle, wessayle, ( whatsaile, whatsaill), 1500s wassaill, wassayle, 1500s–1600s wassall, 1600s–1700s wassal, (1600s vassaile, Historical was-haile, washeall, waes heal, 1800s waisall, waissel, archaic was-hael), Middle English–1800s wassel(l, Middle English– wassail.

Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Norse ves heill.

Etymology: Middle English wæs hæil etc., < Old Norse ves heill (= later ver heill ), corresponding to Old English wes hál lit. ‘be in good health’ or ‘be fortunate’: see be v. 4 θ. forms and whole adj.As an ordinary salutation (= ‘hail’ or ‘farewell’) the phrase, or an approximation to it, occurs both in Old English (hál wes þú , and in plural wesað hále : see be v. 4 θ. forms) and in Old Norse (plural verið heilir). But neither in Old English nor in Old Norse, nor indeed in any Germanic language, has any trace been found of the use as drinking formulas, of the phrases represented by wassail and drinkhail. It seems probable that this use arose among the Danish-speaking inhabitants of England, and became more or less common among the native population; in the 12th cent. it was regarded by the Normans as markedly characteristic of the English. The earliest known occurrence of the phrases is in Geoffrey of Monmouth vi. xii. (c1140), in the well-known story of Rowena (wes heil..drinc heil: v.r. was heil, printed editions corruptly wacht heil). Geoffrey's attribution of the phrases to the 5th century is an anachronism; the original story as told by Nennius contains nothing corresponding to them. In Wace's Brut (c1180), which is a metrical version of Geoffrey, various manuscripts have weshel, waisseil, gasel; drinkel, drincheheil, drechehel. That Wace's acquaintance with the ‘English’ phrases was not wholly derived from the passage in Geoffrey is shown by his reference to them in the Roman de Rou, where it is said that the night before the battle of Hastings was spent by the English in revelry, with cries of weissel (v.rr. wesse heil, welseil, weseil) and drincheheil (v.rr. drinceseil, drinqueheil, drinkeil). In the Speculum Stultorum of Nigellus Wireker (c1190) the English students at the university of Paris are praised for generosity and other virtues, but are said to be too much addicted to wessail and dringail. The earliest example of the phrases in an English context is in Layamon's translation of Wace. In drinkhail the second element is, as in wassail, the Old Norse adjective heill used as complement. Although the phrase drekk heill is not recorded in Old Norse, it has an exact syntactical parallel in sit heill, ‘sit in health’. Whether the form of the first element in drinkhail is due to Old English influence or is archaic Scandinavian is doubtful; the form drechehel in one manuscript of Wace is noteworthy from its resemblance to the Old Norse of the literary period.

Now only archaic and Historical.

a. A salutation used when presenting a cup of wine to a guest, or drinking the health of a person, the reply being drink-hail n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking to each other or toasting > a toast

wassailc1275

proface1586

pledge1594

carouse1599

fathom health1600

skol1600

health1602

pitcher-praise1654

toast1746

hob-nob1761

loyal toast1799

salamander1868

ganbei1940

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7469 Heo fulde hir scale of wine..& þus hailede him on..Lauerd king wæs hail [c1300 Otho wassail].

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7152 Þat freond sæiðe to freonde..Leofue freond wæs hail [c1300 Otho wassail].

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7141 Rouwenne..bar an hire honde ane guldene bolle. i-uulled mid wine..& þus ærest sæide in Ænglene londe. Lauerd king wæs hæil [c1300 Otho wassayl].

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1508 Weȝe wyn in þis won ‘wassayl!’ he cryes.

c1400 Brut 52 Ronewenne..come wiþ a coupe of golde..and knelede bifore þe kyng, and saide to him ‘Whatsaile!’..þat was þe ferst tyme þat ‘whatsaile’ and ‘drynkehaile’ come vp into þis lande; and fram þat tyme into this tyme it Haþ bene wel vsede.

1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 116 I trust this wassall shall make all England glad. And with that he dranke a great draught, the king pledging him.

1832 W. Motherwell Battle-flag of Sigurd in Poems i Then lift the can to bearded lip,..Wassaile! to every dark-ribbed ship, To every battle-field!

1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. v. 88 Fair mistress Sybill, your dainty lips will not, I trow, refuse me the waisall. [Another ed. reads waissel.]

1863 H. W. Longfellow Musician's Tale xii. xiii, in Tales Wayside Inn 124 The Berserks drank ‘Was-hael! To the Lord!’

†b. As a mere salutation. quasi-archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > courteous expressions [interjection] > expressions of greeting

hailc1200

all haila1393

yoa1475

salutation1535

hail1604

chin chin1625

wassaila1643

hallo1841

hello1853

good day1857

hi1862

all right1868

g'day1894

'lo1913

ciao1929

hiya1940

hidey1941

well-done1971

wagwan1983

a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iv. ii. 61 Ha. What? who goes there? Moth. Waes heal thou gentle Knight.

c. ironically. A ‘salute’, smart attack. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun]

assault1297

venuea1330

scoura1400

wassailc1400

frayc1430

brunta1450

sault1510

onseta1522

attemptate1524

onsetting1541

breach1578

dint1579

objectiona1586

invasion1591

extent1594

grassation1610

attack1655

run1751

wrack1863

mayhem1870

serve1967

c1400 Laud Troy-bk. 9020 Odemoun..Toke Menelaus In that swyng, And him bare ouer his hors tayl: He ȝaff him there suche a wassail, That he lay longe In colde swot.

2. The liquor in which healths were drunk; esp. the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas-eve celebrations. wine and wassail (now archaic, echoing Shakespeare): vaguely, strong drink in abundance (cf. sense 4).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > ale > [noun] > ale for specific occasions

wassailc1300

hock-ale1484

hocking-ale1484

Christian ale1640

bummocka1688

bing-ale1735

lamb-ale1781

clerk-ale1791

audit ale1823

bride ale1868

bed-ale1880

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1246 Wyn and ale deden he fete, And made[n] hem glade and bliþe, Wesseyl ledden he fele siþe.

in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 121 When the steward cometh in at the hall doore with the wassell, he must crie three tymes, Wassell, wassell, wassell.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ix Then was the wassaill or banket brought in, and so brake vp Christmas.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxv. viii. 224 And even at this day [in Spain] in their great feasts..they have a certaine Wassaile or Bragat, which goeth round about the table, made of honied wine or sweet mead, with..hearbes in it.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. vii. 64 His two Chamberlaines Will I with Wine, and Wassell, so conuince, That Memorie..shall be a Fume.

1616 B. Jonson Forrest iii. 59 in Wks. I The iolly wassall walkes the often round, And in their cups, their cares are drown'd.

a1637 B. Jonson Christmas his Masque 59 in Wks. (1640) III Enter..Wassall Like a neat Sempster, and Songster; her Page bearing a browne bowle, drest with Ribbands.

1661 New Carolls for Christmas, For Twelfth-day iii The Wassell well spiced, about shall go round.

1742–50 R. O. Cambridge Archimage xiii, in Wks. (1803) 39 'Bove all things else he Wassel priz'd and ale.

1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. Introd. 302 While round the merry wassel bowl, Garnished with ribbons, blithe did trowl.

1816 W. Scott Old Mortality ix, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 210 Women, wine, and wassail, all to be had for little but the asking.

1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 7 The wine and the wassail of mine host began to operate upon bodies already a little jaded by the chase.

1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxviii. 297 They sat down..to a substantial supper, and a mighty bowl of wassail..in which the hot apples were hissing and bubbling.

1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam ciii. 160 Strangely falls our Christmas eve... Let no footstep beat the floor, Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm.

1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend i. 17 No song, no laugh, no jovial din Of drinking wassail to the pin.

1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone iv Two hundred gownsmen, wild with wrath and wassail, came leaping to the rescue.

1898 J. B. Crozier My Inner Life v. 43 He was much addicted to wine and wassail too, as his blood-red face sufficiently attested.

†3. A custom formerly observed on Twelfth-night and New-Year's eve of drinking healths from the wassail-bowl. †Also, ? the person invited to drink from the wassail-bowl. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking to each other or toasting

pledging1538

skolinga1599

wassail1598

healthing1628

propination1656

hob or nob1756

hob-nobbing1795

hob-noba1814

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > call for drink or turn to pay > person invited to drink

wassail1598

1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia sig. B6 A wassaile on twelfe night.

1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion ix. Illustr. 153 I see a custome in some parts among vs,..I meane the yearely was-haile in the country on the vigil of the New yeare.

1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Wassail,..an ancient Ceremonious custome, still used upon twelf day at night, of going about with a great bowl of Ale, drinking of healths.

1661 New Carolls for Christmas, For Twelfth-day ii For a King of our Wassell this night we must chuse.

1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 42 The Pope in sending Rellicks to Princes, does as Wenches do by their Wassels at New-years-tide, they present you with a Cup, and you must drink of a slabby stuff; but the meaning is, you must give them Moneys.

4. A carousal; riotous festivity, revelling.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > social event > a merrymaking or convivial occasion > [noun] > noisy or riotous

revela1375

riotc1440

revel-rout1587

wassail1603

randan1640

rant1650

high-go1774

splore?a1786

gilravagea1796

spree1804

lark1811

spray1813

shindy1821

randy1825

randy-dandy1835

batter1839

flare-up1844

barney1850

jamboree1868

tear1869

whoop-up1876

beano1888

razzle1892

razzle-dazzle1893

bash1901

the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking freely

carousing1582

wassailinga1586

wassail1603

glowsing1622

the bowl1805

1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. iv. 10 The king doth wake to night, & takes his rowse, Keepe wassel.

1614 R. Tailor Hogge hath lost Pearle G 3 I sweare,..By Cresus name and by his castle, Where winter nights he keepeth wassell.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 56 Anthony, Leaue thy lasciuious Vassailes.

1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel v. viii. 134 The blithesome signs of wassel gay Decayed not with the dying day.

1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 238 I at length arrived in merry Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail.

1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxi. 33 Meantime the lady and her lover sate At wassail in their beauty and their pride.

1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. iv. ii. 248 A board was spread, and wassail was blithe around me.

a1875 R. S. Hawker Footprints Former Men Cornwall (1903) 28 Now there was signal made of banquet in the halls of Stowe, of wassail and dance.

1878 H. Phillips Poems from Span. & Ger. 72 Two kings held wassail in Orkadàl.

†5. A carol or song sung by wassailers; a wassailing or health-drinking song. Obsolete.In quot. 1607 ironical or jocular.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > drinking-song

drinking-song1597

wassail1607

Bacchic1676

Bacchanaliaa1680

epileny1708

tavern-song1823

wassail-song1829

pot-song1850

wassailing song1914

1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater iii. i. sig. E1^v Haue you done your wassayl, tis a handsome drowsie dittie Ile assure yee, now I had as leeue here a Catte cry.

c1650 New Christmas Carols, Carrol for Wassel-Bowl 7 Good Dame here at your Door Our Wassel we begin.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

a. (In sense 3.)

wassail-candle n.

ΚΠ

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 159 Iust. What you are as a candle, the better part, burnt out. Falst. A wassel candle my lord, al tallow.

wassail-day n.

ΚΠ

1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xiii, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 252 O wassel days! O customs meet and well!

wassail-singer n.

ΚΠ

a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Wassail-singers.

wassail-singing n.

ΚΠ

1895 ‘Q’ Wandering Heath 182 December and January, with..carols and wassail-singing.

b. (In sense 4.)

wassail-bout n.

ΚΠ

1840 H. W. Longfellow Skeleton in Armour vii Many a wassail-bout Wore the long Winter out.

wassail-revelry n.

ΚΠ

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles vi. xix. 248 But now, from England's host, the cry Thou hear'st of wassail revelry.

wassail-roar n.

ΚΠ

1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xxxi. 53 This was the sign the feast was o'er; It hushed the merry wassel roar.

wassail-rout n.

ΚΠ

1808 W. Scott Marmion iii. Introd. 126 Of forayers, who,..home returning, filled the hall With revel, wassell-route, and brawl.

wassail-season n.

ΚΠ

1767 W. J. Mickle Concubine i. xxix Now fly the wassal Seasons wingd with Glee.

wassail-song n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > drinking-song

drinking-song1597

wassail1607

Bacchic1676

Bacchanaliaa1680

epileny1708

tavern-song1823

wassail-song1829

pot-song1850

wassailing song1914

1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein II. xi. 338 The chorus of a wassel song, which some reveller was trolling over in his sleep.

1854 ‘G. Greenwood’ Haps & Mishaps 88 A hall of the old castle, which had rung to the clang of rude armour, and the wassail songs of Erin's princes and knights.

C2. A spurious compound wassail-bread, given in many dictionaries, is due to a misinterpretation of wastell-bread: see wastel n. For a similar figment, wassail-cake, see quot. a1697 at wassail v. 2.

wassail-cup n. = wassail-bowl n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > large

beaker1348

facer1527

wassailing bowl1555

wassail-cup1600

wassail-bowl1606

consciencea1643

bellarmine1720

breakfast-cup1762

longbeard1850

1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxvi. xiii. 593 The same wassaile cup [L. poculum idem] that first will be presented to me, shall go round about to you all.

a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 6 Such as they met gave them money..to buy a wassail-cup, a carouse.

1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxvi. 234 Let us have a Christmas wassail-cup, and toast Old England here, on the hearth.

Draft additions September 2018

wassail bob n. [ < wassail n. + bob n.¹] English regional (Yorkshire) (now historical and rare) a Christmas decoration made from boughs of evergreens, sometimes decorated with fruit, and frequently containing figures representing the Nativity scene; cf. wesley-bob n.

ΚΠ

1853 Huddersfield Chron. 8 Jan. 7/5 The children sang—‘Our wassail-bob is made of the rosemary-tree’, but this was the top part of an evergreen fir-tree, and most gracefully adorned with very costly articles in fancy needlework.

1875 J. Burnley West Riding Sketches 258 Little girlish bands of carollers with their wassail-bobs, popped up here and there.

1947 Country Life 17 Jan. 195/1 When I was a boy in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the 1870s we made what we called a Wassail Bob by using two hoops.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	wassail
释义	wassailn. Brit. /ˈwɒseɪl/, /ˈwaseɪl/, /ˈwɒs(ə)l/, /ˈwas(ə)l/, U.S. /ˈwɑsəl/, /ˈwɑˌseɪl/ Forms: Middle English wæs hæil, wæshail, washayl, washail, wesseyl, Middle English, 1600s wassayl, Middle English, 1500s–1600s, 1800s archaic wassaile, Middle English wassaylle, wessayle, ( whatsaile, whatsaill), 1500s wassaill, wassayle, 1500s–1600s wassall, 1600s–1700s wassal, (1600s vassaile, Historical was-haile, washeall, waes heal, 1800s waisall, waissel, archaic was-hael), Middle English–1800s wassel(l, Middle English– wassail. Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Norse ves heill. Etymology: Middle English wæs hæil etc., < Old Norse ves heill (= later ver heill ), corresponding to Old English wes hál lit. ‘be in good health’ or ‘be fortunate’: see be v. 4 θ. forms and whole adj.As an ordinary salutation (= ‘hail’ or ‘farewell’) the phrase, or an approximation to it, occurs both in Old English (hál wes þú , and in plural wesað hále : see be v. 4 θ. forms) and in Old Norse (plural verið heilir). But neither in Old English nor in Old Norse, nor indeed in any Germanic language, has any trace been found of the use as drinking formulas, of the phrases represented by wassail and drinkhail. It seems probable that this use arose among the Danish-speaking inhabitants of England, and became more or less common among the native population; in the 12th cent. it was regarded by the Normans as markedly characteristic of the English. The earliest known occurrence of the phrases is in Geoffrey of Monmouth vi. xii. (c1140), in the well-known story of Rowena (wes heil..drinc heil: v.r. was heil, printed editions corruptly wacht heil). Geoffrey's attribution of the phrases to the 5th century is an anachronism; the original story as told by Nennius contains nothing corresponding to them. In Wace's Brut (c1180), which is a metrical version of Geoffrey, various manuscripts have weshel, waisseil, gasel; drinkel, drincheheil, drechehel. That Wace's acquaintance with the ‘English’ phrases was not wholly derived from the passage in Geoffrey is shown by his reference to them in the Roman de Rou, where it is said that the night before the battle of Hastings was spent by the English in revelry, with cries of weissel (v.rr. wesse heil, welseil, weseil) and drincheheil (v.rr. drinceseil, drinqueheil, drinkeil). In the Speculum Stultorum of Nigellus Wireker (c1190) the English students at the university of Paris are praised for generosity and other virtues, but are said to be too much addicted to wessail and dringail. The earliest example of the phrases in an English context is in Layamon's translation of Wace. In drinkhail the second element is, as in wassail, the Old Norse adjective heill used as complement. Although the phrase drekk heill is not recorded in Old Norse, it has an exact syntactical parallel in sit heill, ‘sit in health’. Whether the form of the first element in drinkhail is due to Old English influence or is archaic Scandinavian is doubtful; the form drechehel in one manuscript of Wace is noteworthy from its resemblance to the Old Norse of the literary period. Now only archaic and Historical. 1. a. A salutation used when presenting a cup of wine to a guest, or drinking the health of a person, the reply being drink-hail n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking to each other or toasting > a toast wassailc1275 proface1586 pledge1594 carouse1599 fathom health1600 skol1600 health1602 pitcher-praise1654 toast1746 hob-nob1761 loyal toast1799 salamander1868 ganbei1940 c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7469 Heo fulde hir scale of wine..& þus hailede him on..Lauerd king wæs hail [c1300 Otho wassail]. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7152 Þat freond sæiðe to freonde..Leofue freond wæs hail [c1300 Otho wassail]. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7141 Rouwenne..bar an hire honde ane guldene bolle. i-uulled mid wine..& þus ærest sæide in Ænglene londe. Lauerd king wæs hæil [c1300 Otho wassayl]. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1508 Weȝe wyn in þis won ‘wassayl!’ he cryes. c1400 Brut 52 Ronewenne..come wiþ a coupe of golde..and knelede bifore þe kyng, and saide to him ‘Whatsaile!’..þat was þe ferst tyme þat ‘whatsaile’ and ‘drynkehaile’ come vp into þis lande; and fram þat tyme into this tyme it Haþ bene wel vsede. 1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 116 I trust this wassall shall make all England glad. And with that he dranke a great draught, the king pledging him. 1832 W. Motherwell Battle-flag of Sigurd in Poems i Then lift the can to bearded lip,..Wassaile! to every dark-ribbed ship, To every battle-field! 1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. v. 88 Fair mistress Sybill, your dainty lips will not, I trow, refuse me the waisall. [Another ed. reads waissel.] 1863 H. W. Longfellow Musician's Tale xii. xiii, in Tales Wayside Inn 124 The Berserks drank ‘Was-hael! To the Lord!’ †b. As a mere salutation. quasi-archaic. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > courteous expressions [interjection] > expressions of greeting hailc1200 all haila1393 yoa1475 salutation1535 hail1604 chin chin1625 wassaila1643 hallo1841 hello1853 good day1857 hi1862 all right1868 g'day1894 'lo1913 ciao1929 hiya1940 hidey1941 well-done1971 wagwan1983 a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iv. ii. 61 Ha. What? who goes there? Moth. Waes heal thou gentle Knight. c. ironically. A ‘salute’, smart attack. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun] assault1297 venuea1330 scoura1400 wassailc1400 frayc1430 brunta1450 sault1510 onseta1522 attemptate1524 onsetting1541 breach1578 dint1579 objectiona1586 invasion1591 extent1594 grassation1610 attack1655 run1751 wrack1863 mayhem1870 serve1967 c1400 Laud Troy-bk. 9020 Odemoun..Toke Menelaus In that swyng, And him bare ouer his hors tayl: He ȝaff him there suche a wassail, That he lay longe In colde swot. 2. The liquor in which healths were drunk; esp. the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas-eve celebrations. wine and wassail (now archaic, echoing Shakespeare): vaguely, strong drink in abundance (cf. sense 4). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > ale > [noun] > ale for specific occasions wassailc1300 hock-ale1484 hocking-ale1484 Christian ale1640 bummocka1688 bing-ale1735 lamb-ale1781 clerk-ale1791 audit ale1823 bride ale1868 bed-ale1880 c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1246 Wyn and ale deden he fete, And made[n] hem glade and bliþe, Wesseyl ledden he fele siþe. in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 121 When the steward cometh in at the hall doore with the wassell, he must crie three tymes, Wassell, wassell, wassell. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. ix Then was the wassaill or banket brought in, and so brake vp Christmas. 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxv. viii. 224 And even at this day [in Spain] in their great feasts..they have a certaine Wassaile or Bragat, which goeth round about the table, made of honied wine or sweet mead, with..hearbes in it. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. vii. 64 His two Chamberlaines Will I with Wine, and Wassell, so conuince, That Memorie..shall be a Fume. View more context for this quotation 1616 B. Jonson Forrest iii. 59 in Wks. I The iolly wassall walkes the often round, And in their cups, their cares are drown'd. a1637 B. Jonson Christmas his Masque 59 in Wks. (1640) III Enter..Wassall Like a neat Sempster, and Songster; her Page bearing a browne bowle, drest with Ribbands. 1661 New Carolls for Christmas, For Twelfth-day iii The Wassell well spiced, about shall go round. 1742–50 R. O. Cambridge Archimage xiii, in Wks. (1803) 39 'Bove all things else he Wassel priz'd and ale. 1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. Introd. 302 While round the merry wassel bowl, Garnished with ribbons, blithe did trowl. 1816 W. Scott Old Mortality ix, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 210 Women, wine, and wassail, all to be had for little but the asking. 1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 7 The wine and the wassail of mine host began to operate upon bodies already a little jaded by the chase. 1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxviii. 297 They sat down..to a substantial supper, and a mighty bowl of wassail..in which the hot apples were hissing and bubbling. 1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam ciii. 160 Strangely falls our Christmas eve... Let no footstep beat the floor, Nor bowl of wassail mantle warm. 1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend i. 17 No song, no laugh, no jovial din Of drinking wassail to the pin. 1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone iv Two hundred gownsmen, wild with wrath and wassail, came leaping to the rescue. 1898 J. B. Crozier My Inner Life v. 43 He was much addicted to wine and wassail too, as his blood-red face sufficiently attested. †3. A custom formerly observed on Twelfth-night and New-Year's eve of drinking healths from the wassail-bowl. †Also, ? the person invited to drink from the wassail-bowl. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking to each other or toasting pledging1538 skolinga1599 wassail1598 healthing1628 propination1656 hob or nob1756 hob-nobbing1795 hob-noba1814 the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > call for drink or turn to pay > person invited to drink wassail1598 1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia sig. B6 A wassaile on twelfe night. 1612 J. Selden in M. Drayton Poly-olbion ix. Illustr. 153 I see a custome in some parts among vs,..I meane the yearely was-haile in the country on the vigil of the New yeare. 1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Wassail,..an ancient Ceremonious custome, still used upon twelf day at night, of going about with a great bowl of Ale, drinking of healths. 1661 New Carolls for Christmas, For Twelfth-day ii For a King of our Wassell this night we must chuse. 1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 42 The Pope in sending Rellicks to Princes, does as Wenches do by their Wassels at New-years-tide, they present you with a Cup, and you must drink of a slabby stuff; but the meaning is, you must give them Moneys. 4. A carousal; riotous festivity, revelling. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > social event > a merrymaking or convivial occasion > [noun] > noisy or riotous revela1375 riotc1440 revel-rout1587 wassail1603 randan1640 rant1650 high-go1774 splore?a1786 gilravagea1796 spree1804 lark1811 spray1813 shindy1821 randy1825 randy-dandy1835 batter1839 flare-up1844 barney1850 jamboree1868 tear1869 whoop-up1876 beano1888 razzle1892 razzle-dazzle1893 bash1901 the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinking intoxicating liquor > drinking freely carousing1582 wassailinga1586 wassail1603 glowsing1622 the bowl1805 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. iv. 10 The king doth wake to night, & takes his rowse, Keepe wassel. 1614 R. Tailor Hogge hath lost Pearle G 3 I sweare,..By Cresus name and by his castle, Where winter nights he keepeth wassell. a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 56 Anthony, Leaue thy lasciuious Vassailes. 1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel v. viii. 134 The blithesome signs of wassel gay Decayed not with the dying day. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 238 I at length arrived in merry Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail. 1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto III lxi. 33 Meantime the lady and her lover sate At wassail in their beauty and their pride. 1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. iv. ii. 248 A board was spread, and wassail was blithe around me. a1875 R. S. Hawker Footprints Former Men Cornwall (1903) 28 Now there was signal made of banquet in the halls of Stowe, of wassail and dance. 1878 H. Phillips Poems from Span. & Ger. 72 Two kings held wassail in Orkadàl. †5. A carol or song sung by wassailers; a wassailing or health-drinking song. Obsolete.In quot. 1607 ironical or jocular. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > drinking-song drinking-song1597 wassail1607 Bacchic1676 Bacchanaliaa1680 epileny1708 tavern-song1823 wassail-song1829 pot-song1850 wassailing song1914 1607 F. Beaumont Woman Hater iii. i. sig. E1^v Haue you done your wassayl, tis a handsome drowsie dittie Ile assure yee, now I had as leeue here a Catte cry. c1650 New Christmas Carols, Carrol for Wassel-Bowl 7 Good Dame here at your Door Our Wassel we begin. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. (In sense 3.) wassail-candle n. ΚΠ 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. ii. 159 Iust. What you are as a candle, the better part, burnt out. Falst. A wassel candle my lord, al tallow. View more context for this quotation wassail-day n. ΚΠ 1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xiii, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 252 O wassel days! O customs meet and well! wassail-singer n. ΚΠ a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Wassail-singers. wassail-singing n. ΚΠ 1895 ‘Q’ Wandering Heath 182 December and January, with..carols and wassail-singing. b. (In sense 4.) wassail-bout n. ΚΠ 1840 H. W. Longfellow Skeleton in Armour vii Many a wassail-bout Wore the long Winter out. wassail-revelry n. ΚΠ 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles vi. xix. 248 But now, from England's host, the cry Thou hear'st of wassail revelry. wassail-roar n. ΚΠ 1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xxxi. 53 This was the sign the feast was o'er; It hushed the merry wassel roar. wassail-rout n. ΚΠ 1808 W. Scott Marmion iii. Introd. 126 Of forayers, who,..home returning, filled the hall With revel, wassell-route, and brawl. wassail-season n. ΚΠ 1767 W. J. Mickle Concubine i. xxix Now fly the wassal Seasons wingd with Glee. wassail-song n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > drinking-song drinking-song1597 wassail1607 Bacchic1676 Bacchanaliaa1680 epileny1708 tavern-song1823 wassail-song1829 pot-song1850 wassailing song1914 1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein II. xi. 338 The chorus of a wassel song, which some reveller was trolling over in his sleep. 1854 ‘G. Greenwood’ Haps & Mishaps 88 A hall of the old castle, which had rung to the clang of rude armour, and the wassail songs of Erin's princes and knights. C2. A spurious compound wassail-bread, given in many dictionaries, is due to a misinterpretation of wastell-bread: see wastel n. For a similar figment, wassail-cake, see quot. a1697 at wassail v. 2. wassail-cup n. = wassail-bowl n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > large beaker1348 facer1527 wassailing bowl1555 wassail-cup1600 wassail-bowl1606 consciencea1643 bellarmine1720 breakfast-cup1762 longbeard1850 1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxvi. xiii. 593 The same wassaile cup [L. poculum idem] that first will be presented to me, shall go round about to you all. a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 6 Such as they met gave them money..to buy a wassail-cup, a carouse. 1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxvi. 234 Let us have a Christmas wassail-cup, and toast Old England here, on the hearth. Draft additions September 2018 wassail bob n. [ < wassail n. + bob n.¹] English regional (Yorkshire) (now historical and rare) a Christmas decoration made from boughs of evergreens, sometimes decorated with fruit, and frequently containing figures representing the Nativity scene; cf. wesley-bob n. ΚΠ 1853 Huddersfield Chron. 8 Jan. 7/5 The children sang—‘Our wassail-bob is made of the rosemary-tree’, but this was the top part of an evergreen fir-tree, and most gracefully adorned with very costly articles in fancy needlework. 1875 J. Burnley West Riding Sketches 258 Little girlish bands of carollers with their wassail-bobs, popped up here and there. 1947 Country Life 17 Jan. 195/1 When I was a boy in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the 1870s we made what we called a Wassail Bob by using two hoops. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021). wassailv. Brit. /ˈwɒseɪl/, /ˈwaseɪl/, /ˈwɒs(ə)l/, /ˈwas(ə)l/, U.S. /ˈwɑsəl/, /ˈwɑˌseɪl/ Forms: Middle English wosseyle, wesseyle, 1600s wassaile, wassayle, 1500s wassal, 1700s wessel, 1700s– wassail. Etymology: < wassail n. 1. intransitive. To ‘keep wassail’; to sit carousing and health-drinking. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > freely wassailc1300 waught?a1513 quaff1520 to drink (it) all outa1522 bibblea1529 quaught1530 to set cock on the hoopa1535 quass1549 tipple1560 swillc1563 carouse1567 to drink, quaff (pledge one) carouse1567 troll-the-bowl1575 to take one's rousea1593 pot1622 tope1668 toot1676 compotate1694 to soak one's clay (or face)1704 birlea1800 to splice the mainbrace1805 jollify1830 brimmer1838 to give it a bit of a nudge1966 nudge1966 c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1737 Hwan he.. fele siþes haueden wosseyled, And with gode drinkes seten longe. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 2098 Hwat may þis be? Better is i go miself, and se: Hweþer he sitten nou, and wesseylen. 1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. x. 430 A Horn; the ancient vessel in which the Danes use to Wassayle, or drink healths. 1889 F. M. Crawford Greifenstein III. xxv. 136 He feasted and wassailed with his warriors. 2. transitive. To drink to (fruit trees, cattle) in wassail, in order to ensure their thriving. local. ΘΚΠ society > faith > worship > sacrifice or a sacrifice > kinds of sacrifice > [verb (transitive)] > make a libatory offering wassail1648 libate1866 1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. X4 Wassaile the Trees, that they may beare You many a Plum, and many a Peare. a1697 J. Aubrey Remaines Gentilisme & Judaisme (1881) 9 Mđm. at Twelve-tyde at night they use in the Countrey to wassaile their Oxen and to have Wassaile-Cakes made. 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Romances W. Eng. 2nd Ser. 176 This drink was called lamb's-wool, and with it the trees were wassailed. 1878 Folk-lore Rec. 1 13 It is the custom, in the cider districts of Sussex, to worsle (wassail) the apple-trees. 1895 F. T. Elworthy Evil Eye iii. 105 The old Christmas custom of wassailing the apple-trees. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.c1275v.c1300
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wassailn.

Compounds

Draft additions September 2018

wassailv.