oxymel
(ˈɒksɪmɛl)
Also 4–7 oxi-, -mell.
[a. L. oxymel (also oxymeli), a. Gr. ὀξύµελι, f. ὀξύ-ς sour + µέλι honey.]
A medicinal drink or syrup compounded of vinegar and honey, sometimes with other ingredients.
oxymel of squills, oxymel made with ‘vinegar of squills’.
| [c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 212 Eac sceal mon oxumellis sellan þæt bið of ecede & of huniᵹe ᵹeworht drenc suþerne.] 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. lx. [xlvi.] (MS. Bodl.) lf. 304 b/2 Oximel is iȝeue wiþ hote water to defiynge and naisschinge of hard matere and to open pores. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 189 Tempere hem wiþ oximel. c 1460 Play Sacram. 584 A drynke made full well wyth scamoly and w{supt} oxymell [MS. oxennell]. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 36 Oximell is, where to one part of vyneger is put double so moche of honye, foure tymes as moche of water. 1684 Earl Roscom. Ess. Transl. Verse 130 And all, goes down like Oxymel of Squils. 1831 J. Davies Manual Mat. Med. 39 Oxymels are other species of syrups made from honey and vinegar. |