- Today's Word
Carouse
[kuh-ROWZ]
Definition
- (verb) To engage in boisterous, often drunken merrymaking or festivities. It refers to partying or celebrating in a noisy, enthusiastic manner, typically involving drinking and revelry.
Example
The wedding party caroused until dawn, dancing, singing, and celebrating the newlyweds with seemingly endless enthusiasm.
Fun Fact
“Carouse” comes from the German “gar aus” meaning “all out” or “to drink all,” which was a drinking phrase used in medieval taverns to encourage finishing one’s drink completely. The term entered English in the 16th century through maritime culture, where “carousing” became an important part of sailors’ traditions. Ships would often have designated “carouse nights” when the crew could celebrate, helping maintain morale during long voyages. Interestingly, in medieval Germany, there was a specific drinking vessel called a “Garaus” designed for communal carousing – it was passed around the table, and each drinker had to drink to the bottom mark designated for their social rank. The practice of carousing became so associated with Germanic drinking culture that Shakespeare referenced it in “Hamlet,” where he has the Danish court engaging in elaborate carousing scenes.
(noun) A critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious or literary one
The rabbi’s exegesis of the passage revealed layers of meaning that the congregation had never considered in decades of reading the same words.
Exegesis comes directly from the Greek exegesis, meaning “explanation” or “narrative,” from exegeisthai — from ex (“out”) + hegeisthai (“to guide” or “to lead”). The literal sense is “to lead out” — to draw meaning out from within a text. It entered English in the 17th century primarily as a theological term for biblical interpretation before broadening to literary and legal analysis.