wassail

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wassail

/ˈwɑseɪl/ US
/ˈwɒseɪl/ UK
/ˈwɒsl/ UK
/ˈwæsl/ UK

Rhymes with -ɑseɪl, -ɒseɪl, -ɒsəl, -æsəl

Where it comes from

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).

noun wassails · wasseil

countable, uncountable A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.
countable, uncountable The beverage served during a wassail, especially one made of ale or wine flavoured with spices, sugar, roasted apples, etc. Add ſugar, nutmeg and ginger, / VVith ſtore of ale too; / And thus ye muſt doe / To make the vvaſſaile a ſvvinger.
countable, uncountable Revelry. In merry wassail he […] peals his loud song.
countable, uncountable A festive or drinking song or glee. Have you done your wassail? 'Tis a handsome, drowsy ditty, I'll assure you.

verb wassails · wassailing · wassailed · wasseil

transitive To toast, to drink to the health of another. The next morning he much regretted the gusto with which he had wassailed the night before.
intransitive To drink wassail.
To go from house to house at Christmastime, singing carols. Schoolchildren around the globe have gleefully sung Torches at Christmastime for half a century. Many of those in Birmingham have wassailed the carol at the front door of a cosy Victorian house in Moseley, unaware that behind that front door lives its composer.
Similar: carol

Translations

Every language

noun beverage served during a wassail

Deutsch	Glühwein, Glühbier, Glühmost
Ελληνικά	ευωχία evochía
Tiếng Việt	rượu chúc mừng

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MLA

"wassail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wassail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wassail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wassail

Chicago

"wassail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wassail.

BibTeX

@misc{wassail_2026,
  title = {wassail},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wassail},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}