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 hunsl 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 szweñtas, and Latvian swéts. Skeat points a connection with a root meaning "to kill," which may connect it with Greek kaínein.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
  • Page 814 from Brittanica. Requires the [AlternaTIFF plugin.]