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Hogmanay

[hog-muh-ney]
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noun Scot.
  1. the eve of New Year's Day.
  2. (lowercase) a gift given on Hogmanay.
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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

  • 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.

  • When the Provost gave his grand spree on Hogmanay there was never an invitation for the Gourlay youngsters.

  • On the eve of "Hogmanay," as it is called, everybody stays up to welcome the New Year, with great jollification.

  • Each child gets a quadrant of oat-cake (sometimes with cheese), and this is called the “Hogmanay.”

British Dictionary definitions for hogmanay

Hogmanay

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

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