Handsel - and Happy New Year!

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [January 1, 2019](#none) handsel [Audio pronunciation]( noun | HAN-sul Definition 1 : a gift made as a token of good wishes or luck especially at the beginning of a new year 2 : something received first (as in a day of trading) and taken to be a token of good luck 3 a : a first installment b : a token or sample of what is to come : [earnest](, [foretaste]( Scroll down for more about handsel TRENDING NOW: [nebulous]( [synergy]( [slumgullion]( [endgame]( [SEE ALL [>]]( PEOPLE ARE READING # [The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 12/28/18]( # [From 'Syllabub' to 'Sundae': A Dessert Course in 7 Words]( # ['Cherpumple': 3 Words Packed Into 1]( # [The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 12/21/18]( WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [December 2018 Words of the Day Quiz]( The final quiz of 2018! [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Did You Know? According to an old custom in the British Isles, the first Monday of the New Year is Handsel Monday, a day to give a small gift or good luck charm to children or to those who have served you well. As long ago as the 13th century, English speakers were using the ancestor of handsel in the context of omens and luck, eventually leading to the meaning of a good luck charm given to one at the start of some new situation or condition. By the 18th century, traders were using handsel for the first cash they earned in the morning—to them, an omen of good things to follow. Nowadays, it can also be used for something that gives a taste of things to come. Examples of HANDSEL Celebrating the New Year in the Scottish tradition, Jessica gave out a handsel of one silver dollar coin to each of her nieces and nephews. "The lads, dressed like their fathers, seemed uncomfortable in their new clothes (many that day had received the handsel of their first pair of boots); and beside them, speaking not a word, wearing the white gown of their first communion lengthened for the occasion, were some … girls of fourteen or sixteen…." — Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, 1856 Test Your Vocabulary Fill in the blanks to complete a word for a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase: l _ g _ i _ _ pe. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( WORD OF THE YEAR 2018 Justice + 10 more Read why justice is our Word of the Year, plus lodestar, epiphany, pansexual, and 7 more top words! [SEE THE FULL LIST [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](