26 June 2014

handsel

[han-suhl]

noun

1. a gift or token for good luck or as an expression of good wishes, as at the beginning of the new year or when entering upon a new situation or enterprise.
2. a first installment of payment.
3. the initial experience of anything; first encounter with or use of something taken as a token of what will follow; foretaste.

verb (used with object), hand·seled, hand·sel·ing or ( especially British ) hand·selled, hand·sel·ling.
4. to give a handsel to.
5. to inaugurate auspiciously.
6. to use, try, or experience for the first time.

Origin:
before 1050; Middle English handselne good-luck token, good-will gift, Old English handselen manumission, literally, hand-gift (see hand, sell); cognate with Danish handsel, earnest money

Related forms
un·hand·seled, adjective
un·hand·selled, adjective

Anagram

handles
den lash

Today’s aphorism

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.

– Lyndon B. Johnson

On this day

26 June – International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

26 June 1945 – 50 nations ratify the United Nations Charter in an effort to prevent another world war. The United Nations was formally established on 24 October 1945, replacing the League of Nations.