Hogmanay

[hog-muh-ney]

noun Scot.

the eve of New Year's Day.
(lowercase) a gift given on Hogmanay.

Origin of Hogmanay

First recorded in 1670–80; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hogmanay

Historical Examples of hogmanay

Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name for the last day of the year.
Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I.
Sir James George Frazer
Only two Jocks had got out and kept their Hogmanay elsewhere and quite elsehow—a creditably small proportion out of forty men.
Non-combatants and Others
Rose Macaulay
When the Provost gave his grand spree on Hogmanay there was never an invitation for the Gourlay youngsters.
The House with the Green Shutters
George Douglas Brown
On the eve of "Hogmanay," as it is called, everybody stays up to welcome the New Year, with great jollification.
Our Little Scotch Cousin
Blanche McManus
Each child gets a quadrant of oat-cake (sometimes with cheese), and this is called the “Hogmanay.”
Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan
Clement A. Miles

British Dictionary definitions for hogmanay

Hogmanay

noun

(sometimes not capital)
1. New Year's Eve in Scotland
2. (as modifier)a Hogmanay party See also first-foot

Word Origin for Hogmanay

C17: Scottish and Northern English, perhaps from Norman French hoguinane, from Old French aguillanneuf the last day of the year; also, a New Year's eve gift

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012