handsel
/ˈhænd.səl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.14 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A gift given at New Year, or at the start of some enterprise or new situation, meant to ensure good luck.
verb
To use or do for the first time, especially so as to make fortunate or unfortunate; to try experimentally.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "their first good handsel of breath in this world"
- "Our present tears here, not our present laughter, / Are but the handsels of our joys hereafter."
- "That whoso hardy hand on her doth lay , It dearly shall abye and death for handsel pay"
- ""I see the first handsel that God gives them on their voyage to the Land of Promise; thirst and bitterness." (From Contemplations, Book Five, Contemplation 1, The Waters of Marah (Found in volume 1 of The Works of Joseph Hall, edited by Peter Hall, published by Talboys, Oxford, 1837, page 88))"
- "She would leave a gold guinea to hansel the baby."
- "And it is better undecently to faile in hanseling the nuptiall bed, full of agitation and fits, by waiting for some or other fitter occasion, and more private opportunitie, lest sudden and alarmed, than to fall into a perpetuall miserie, by apprehending an astonishment and desperation of the first refusall."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈhænd.səl/