Quaff

Quaff \KWOFF\ or \KWAFF\ , verb;
1. To drink a beverage, especially an intoxicating one, copiously and with hearty enjoyment
transitive verb;
1. To drink (a beverage) copiously and heartily
noun;
1. An act or instance of quaffing
2. A beverage quaffed

This word dates to the the 1510's and is possibly onomatopoeic, or it could be from Low German quassen ("to overindulge (in food and drink)") with the -ss- misread as -ff-. The noun form comes from the 1570's. That possible misreading makes more sense when you remember that in older forms of Germanic languages, 's' looked like 'ſ'.


Today's the day for quaffing, so grab a brew, sing a song, and don't puke on anyone in the subway....


Sláinte!

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, March 17
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com