quaich

Definition

A traditional shallow, two-handled cup of Scottish origin symbolizing friendship, originally used to toast the arrival or departure of a visitor.

Etymology

From Scots quaich, from Scottish Gaelic cuach (“bowl, goblet”), from Old Irish cuäch (“goblet”), from Proto-Celtic *kaɸukos (“cup, bowl, vessel”).

Example Sentences

• "The quaighs were deep, the liquor strong, / And on the tale the yeoman throng, / Had made a comment sage and long, [...]"
• "Every evening through all the summer Lampusa put out for them before her rock-hewn kitchen a silver quaich of milk; then she summoned the creatures with a low call."
• "A quaich was an ideal gift when made from the timber of the fifteenth-century Alloway Kirk, which, "as you will have read in 'Tam O'Shanter', was a ruin in [Robert] Burns day but had the roof nearly intact until the turn of that century, (18th-19th). The rafters and other load bearing beams were ideal for souvenir makers" (letter, Nov. 19, 1991)."