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   wassail

   /ˈwɒseɪl/

   noun

   • 1. spiced ale or mulled wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve: "a mighty bowl of wassail in which the apples were hissing and bubbling"
   • ▪ lively and noisy festivities involving the drinking of plentiful amounts of alcohol; revelry: "I arrived in Eastcheap, that ancient region of wit and wassail"

   verb

   • 1. drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way: "he feasted and wassailed with his warriors"
   • ▪ (in south-western England) drink to (fruit trees, typically apple trees) in a custom intended to ensure a fruitful crop: historical "it is the custom, in the cider districts of Sussex, to wassail the apple trees"
   • 2. go from house to house at Christmas singing carols: "here we go a-wassailing"

   Word Origin Middle Englishwæs hæil ‘be in (good) health!’: from Old Norse ves heill (compare with hail2). The drinking formula wassail (and the reply drinkhail ‘drink good health’) were probably introduced by Danish-speaking inhabitants of England, and then spread, so that by the 12th century the usage was considered by the Normans to be characteristic of Englishmen.

   Derivatives

   • 1. wassailer noun

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • W

     4

   • A

     1

   • S

     1

   • S

     1

   • A

     1

   • I

     1

   • L

     1

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