wassail
/ˈwɑseɪl/noun, verb
wassail is spelled W-A-S-S-A-I-L: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 114,361st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wassail means “A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wassail is wassails.
How many letters and syllables are in wassail?
| Letters | 7: W-A-S-S-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 14 million words; the 114,361st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is wassail?
Wassail appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 114,361st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wassail?
- US /ˈwɑseɪl/
- UK /ˈwɒseɪl/
- UK /ˈwɒsl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wassail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wassail
- wassails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wasseil
- wassailing participle, present
- wassailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wassail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A toast to health, usually on a festive occasion.
- 2
The beverage served during a wassail, especially one made of ale or wine flavoured with spices, sugar, roasted apples, etc.
- 3
Revelry.
- 4
A festive or drinking song or glee.
verb
- 1
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.
- 2
To drink wassail.
- 3
To go from house to house at Christmastime, singing carols.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wassail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense beverage served during a wassail:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Glühwein, Glühbier, Glühmost |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wassail come 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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).