wassail

[ wos-uhl, -eyl, was-, wo-seyl ]
See synonyms for wassail on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a salutation wishing health to a person, used in England in early times when presenting a cup of drink or when drinking to the person.

  2. a festivity or revel with drinking of healths.

  1. liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, especially spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night.

  2. Archaic. a song sung in wassailing.

verb (used without object)
  1. to revel with drinking.

verb (used with object)
  1. to drink to the health or success of; toast.

Origin of wassail

1
1175–1225; Middle English was-hail, equivalent to was be (Old English wæs, variant of wes, imperative of wesan to be; akin to was) + hailhale1, in good health (<Old Norse heill hale); replacing Old English wæs hāl be hale or whole. See whole, heal

Other words from wassail

  • was·sail·er, noun

Words Nearby wassail

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wassail in a sentence

  • By the time he has gorged himself with wassail, as is his wont, he will not know an old Countess from a young one.

    Quentin Durward | Sir Walter Scott
  • I have already arranged with an artist to do some pictures, and I remember I particularly ordered a robin and a wassail.

    Happy Days | Alan Alexander Milne
  • The wassail bowl originally meant a health-drinking vessel, and is of very ancient origin.

  • Deep into the night the drunken revelry resounded over the lake, until Father Olmedo remonstrated against such godless wassail.

    Hernando Cortez | John S. C. Abbott
  • And let the wassail Cup abound, Whene'er the mummers' time comes round.

    The Peace Egg and Other tales | Juliana Horatia Ewing

British Dictionary definitions for wassail

wassail

/ (ˈwɒseɪl) /


noun
  1. (formerly) a toast or salutation made to a person at festivities

  2. a festivity when much drinking takes place

  1. alcoholic drink drunk at such a festivity, esp spiced beer or mulled wine

  2. the singing of Christmas carols, going from house to house

  3. archaic a drinking song

verb
  1. to drink the health of (a person) at a wassail

  2. (intr) to go from house to house singing carols at Christmas

Origin of wassail

1
C13: from Old Norse ves heill be in good health; related to Old English wes hāl; see hale 1

Derived forms of wassail

  • wassailer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012