Housel

Housel, the English name, until the time of the Reformation, for the Eucharist. The word in O. Eng. was húsel. Its proper meaning is “sacrifice,” and thus the word hunsl appears in Ulfilas’ Gothic version of Matt. ix. 13, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” The ultimate origin is doubtful. The New English Dictionary connects it with a Teutonic stem meaning “holy”; from which is derived the Lithuanian szweńtas, and Lettish swéts. Skeat refers it to a root meaning “to kill,” which may connect it with Gr. καίνειν.