caudle

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English caudel, from Old Northern French caudel, from Medieval Latin caldellum, diminutive of Latin caldus, calidus (“warm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːdəl/
• Rhymes: -ɔːdəl
• Homophones: caudal; coddle (cot–caught merger)

Noun

caudle (plural caudles)

1. A drink given to the sick, consisting of ale or wine, bread, and eggs.

   Synonym: posset

   • 1634 (first performance), William D’avenant [i.e., William Davenant], The Wits: A Comedie; […], published 1636; republished in Two Excellent Plays: […], London: […] G. Bedel, and T[homas] Collins, […], 1665, →OCLC, Act I, page 1:

     Could a Taff'ta ſcarf, a long Eſtridge vvhing, / A ſtiffe Iron Doublet, and a Brazeel Pole / Tempt thee from Cambrick ſheets, fine active Thighs, / From Caudles vvhere the precious Amber ſvvims?

   • 1859, George Meredith, chapter IV, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

     A venerable lady, known as Great-Aunt Grantley, who had money to bequeath to the Heir, and whom Adrian called The Eighteenth Century, occupied with Hippias the back ground of the house, and shared her caudles with him.

Derived terms

• caudle cup

Translations

hot drink given to the sick, consisting of ale or wine, bread, and eggs

Verb

caudle (third-person singular simple present caudles, present participle caudling, simple past and past participle caudled)

1. (transitive) To make into caudle.
2. (transitive) To serve as a caudle to; to refresh.
   • c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, act 4, scene 3, lines 226–228:

     Will the cold brook, / Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste, / To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit?

Anagrams

• Claude, DeLuca, Deluca, cedula