wassail

Definition

A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.

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).

Example Sentences

• "Add ſugar, nutmeg and ginger, / VVith ſtore of ale too; / And thus ye muſt doe / To make the vvaſſaile a ſvvinger."
• "In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song."
• "The victors abandoned themselves to feasting and wassail."