An archaic term for the season of cutting and harvesting hay, or the time of year when hay is made ready.
From Old English 'hægsel' or 'haysel,' combining 'hay' + a suffix related to 'season.' It's closely related to 'hazel' (the season), now largely obsolete.
Haysel was the working person's word for what we'd now call 'summer' in agricultural societies—your entire year, earnings, and family's survival depended on how haysel went, making it arguably more significant than the calendar's official seasons.
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