Housel

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Housel was, until the Reformation, the name of the Eucharist in the English language. The meaning of the word is "sacrifice," and appears in the Ulfilas Gothic version of Matthew 9:13: "I will have mercy and not sacrifice."

The word's etymology is uncertain. The New English Dictionary connects it with a Teutonic stem meaning "holy," from which is derived the Lithuanian szwetas, and Latvian swts. There also be a connection with a root meaning "to kill," which may connect it with Greek "icctivetv."

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.