May you tipple your way to a very happy new year! And have a drink for me, because I’m not 21 yet. :( To tipple means “to drink intoxicating liquor, esp. habitually or to some excess.”
As a noun, a tipple is “alcoholic liquor” or “a serving of drink (usually alcoholic) drawn from a keg”. It can also mean “a place where loaded cars are emptied by tipping”.
The Online Etymology Dictionary explains part of the word’s evolution:
- 1396 - tippler means "seller of alcoholic liquors"
- 1531 - tipple means "sell alcoholic liquor by retail"
- 1560 - tipple means "drink (alcoholic beverage) too much"
- 1580 - tippler means "habitual drinker"
The word tipsy is related to tipple. Apparently a tipsy-cake is a “cake saturated with wine or liquor”. Mmm, intoxicating.