wassail

was·sail

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [wos-uh l, -eyl, was-, wo-seyl]
- /ˈwɒs əl, -eɪl, ˈwæs-, wɒˈseɪl/
- /ˈwɒ.seɪl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wos-uh l, -eyl, was-, wo-seyl]
- /ˈwɒs əl, -eɪl, ˈwæs-, wɒˈseɪl/

Definitions of wassail word

noun wassail 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. 1
noun wassail a festivity or revel with drinking of healths. 1
noun wassail liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, especially spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night. 1
noun wassail Archaic. a song sung in wassailing. 1
verb without object wassail to revel with drinking. 1
verb with object wassail to drink to the health or success of; toast. 1

See all 27 definitions of wassail

Information block about the term

Origin of wassail

First appearance:

before 1175

One of the 8% oldest English words

1175-1225; Middle English was-hail, equivalent to was be (Old English wæs, variant of wes, imperative of wesan to be; akin to was) + hail hale1, in good health (< Old Norse heill hale); replacing Old English wæs hāl be hale or whole. See whole, heal

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Wassail

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Wassail

wassail popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 69% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

wassail usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for wassail

noun wassail

celebration — A celebration is a special enjoyable event that people organize because something pleasant has happened or because it is someone's birthday or anniversary.
bash — A bash is a party or celebration, especially a large one held by an official organization or attended by famous people.
blast — A blast is a big explosion, especially one caused by a bomb.
blowout — A blowout is a large meal, often a celebration with family or friends, at which people may eat too much.
carousal — a merry drinking party

verb wassail

celebrate — If you celebrate, you do something enjoyable because of a special occasion or to mark someone's success.
toast — a salutation or a few words of congratulation, good wishes, appreciation, remembrance, etc., uttered immediately before drinking to a person, event, etc.
applaud — When a group of people applaud, they clap their hands in order to show approval, for example when they have enjoyed a play or concert.
carouse — If you say that people are carousing, you mean that they are behaving very noisily and drinking a lot of alcohol as they enjoy themselves.
extol — Praise enthusiastically.

All 35 Synonyms of wassail