Sliced bread browned by heat, or ceremonial acts of raising glasses in honor of someone or something. As a verb, it means to brown bread or to honor someone with a drinking salute.
The bread sense comes from Old French 'toster' (to roast). The drinking sense arose because spiced toast was once placed in wine cups for flavor. The honorific meaning emerged from the idea that the honored person's name flavored the occasion like toast flavored wine.
The connection between crispy bread and drinking ceremonies comes from an actual piece of toast! In the 17th century, a piece of spiced toast was dropped into wine to improve the flavor, and gradually 'drinking a toast' came to mean honoring someone special at the table.
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