| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| wassail |
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| SYLLABICATION: | was·sail |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  w s  l, w-s l |
| NOUN: | 1a. A salutation or toast given in drinking someone's health or as an expression of good will at a festivity. b. The drink used in such toasting, commonly ale or wine spiced with roasted apples and sugar. 2. A festivity characterized by much drinking. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: was·sailed, was·sail·ing, was·sails
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | To drink to the health of; toast. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To engage in or drink a wassail. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, contraction of wæshæil, be healthy, from Old Norse ves heill : ves, imperative sing. of vera, to be; see wes-1 in Appendix I + heill, healthy; see kailo- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | wassail·er —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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