housel

American  

[hou-zuhl] / ˈhaʊ zəl /

noun

1. the Eucharist.

2. the act of administering or receiving the Eucharist.

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verb (used with object)

houseled, houseling, houselled, houselling

1. to administer the Eucharist to.

housel British  

/ ˈhaʊzəl /

noun

1. a medieval name for Eucharist

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verb

1. (tr) to give the Eucharist to (someone)

Etymology

Origin of housel

First recorded before 900; Middle English; (noun) Old English hūsl “the Eucharist,” probably originally, “offering”; cognate with Old Norse hūsl, Gothic hunsl “sacrifice, offering”

Example Sentences

He'll wed ye and housel ye for a couple of roses.

From The Forest Lovers by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

But after the mass and the holy housel every one with great joy returned to his own.

From The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of ?lfric, in the Original Anglo-Saxon, with an English Version. Volume I. by Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham

For the housel and the chrism, they be mercies of man.

From The White Rose of Langley A Story of the Olden Time by Holt, Emily Sarah

In this life we require bread, and instruction, and partaking of the housel.

From The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of ?lfric, in the Original Anglo-Saxon, with an English Version. Volume I. by Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham

He would not suffer the host to approach the burning city, but took to his bed, turned his face to the tent-wall, and refused alike housel and meat.

From The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Hewlett, Maurice Henry