Wassail

You may have heard the old Christmas carol, The Gloucestershire Wassail, with the chorus that goes like this:

Wassail! wassail! all over the town,

Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;

Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;

With the wassailing bowl we'll drink to thee.

This week's word is wassail [wo-seyl], a noun meaning "a salutation wishing health to a person" or the name of a drink at festivities, especially spiced ale. In addition, wassailing is another word for caroling house to house.

Our local high school choir performs a Madrigal Celebration every December. At one point during the show, all of the guests are given a cup of warm wassail (not ale, but rather a mixture of apple cider and orange juice) to toast to the king and queen while the choir students sing The Gloucestershire Wassail. It's always a fun part of the holiday season for me! :)

Here are some examples I came up with, using this week's word:

When I was younger, 

I loved wassailing with my friends 

at Christmastime! (True story.)

Please pass the wassail.

Wassail to you!

Have you ever tasted wassail or gone wassailing? How would you use the word in a sentence?