A wild celebration, party, or drinking spree involving revelry and merrymaking.
From Middle Dutch carousal, derived from the verb carouse. The word likely has German roots (gar aus = all out, completely), referring to drinking one's cup completely dry during a celebration.
Medieval soldiers had specific drinking rules during carousals—you had to drain your entire cup or risk insult, which is why the German phrase 'gar aus' (completely out) got immortalized in English party vocabulary!
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