Caudle

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A warm, sweetened drink made from thin oatmeal gruel mixed with wine or ale, traditionally given to people who were sick
2. Historically, a soothing beverage of thin gruel blended with wine or beer and spices, often served to invalids in bed
3. A medicinal gruel-based drink, warmed and mixed with alcohol and seasonings, once offered to comfort the unwell

Etymology: Before "caudle" named a warm sick-room drink, it was simply a warm drink, and its name comes from a Latin adjective meaning "warm." The Latin "caldus," or "calidus," meant warm, and its diminutive "caldellum," formed in Medieval Latin, gave rise to the Old Northern French "caudel." English borrowed that form as Middle English "caudel," and the modern spelling descends from it. The drink itself was typically a thin gruel or broth, often thickened with oatmeal or bread and sweetened and spiced with wine or ale. Its purpose was comfort: it was served warm to invalids and women recovering after childbirth, which is why the word became tied to bedside care. The verb use follows naturally from the drink. To caudle someone was to feed them this warm mixture, so the word moved from a dish to the act of nursing a patient with it.

Synonyms: gruel, posset