Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- On the nail: used of drinking, with reference to the custom of turning the glass over the thumb to show that there was only a drop left small enough to rest on the nail: as, to drink supernaculum.
- noun Wine good enough to be worth drinking to the bottom; good liquor; hence, anything very fine or enjoyable.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb A kind of mock Latin term intended to mean, upon the nail; -- used formerly by topers.
- adverb Good liquor, of which not enough is left to wet one's nail.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb obsolete According to the rules of an old
drinking game in which the drinker upturned the empty cup and had to drink more if the remainingdroplets spilled beyond the edge of hisfingernail .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And the picture of the banquet "when they fell to the chat of the afternoon's collation and began great goblets to ring, great bowls to ting, great gammons to trot; pour me out the fair Greek wine, the extravagant wine, the good wine, Lacrima Christi, supernaculum!"
Visions and Revisions A Book of Literary Devotions John Cowper Powys 1917
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With agony he had observed that supernaculum was his miserable lot.
Vivian Grey Benjamin Disraeli 1842
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The cup was in Vivian's hand, Rudesheimer was roaring supernaculum louder than all; Vivian saw that the covetous
Vivian Grey Benjamin Disraeli 1842
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One pull, a gasp, another desperate draught; it was done! and followed by a supernaculum almost superior to the exulting
Vivian Grey Benjamin Disraeli 1842
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"Look at this precious phial, the incomparable elixir, the pabulum of life, the grand arcanum, the supernaculum, the mother and regenerator of nature, the source and the womb of all existence, past, present, and to come!"
Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 (of 2) John Roby 1821
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To drink _supernaculum_ is to empty the cup so thoroughly that the last drop or "pearl," drained on to the nail, retains its shape, and does not run.
The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry George Gordon Byron Byron 1806
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The custom of drinking _supernaculum_, consisted in turning down the cup upon the thumb-nail of the drinker after his pledge, when, if duly quaffed off, no drop of liquor ought to appear upon his nail.
The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 06 John Dryden 1665
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He drank thy health five times, _supernaculum_, [2] to my son Brain-sick; and dipt my daughter Pleasance's little finger, to make it go down more glibly: [3] And, before George, I grew tory rory, as they say, and strained a brimmer through the lily-white smock, i'faith.
The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 06 John Dryden 1665
whichbe commented on the word supernaculum
A liquor drunk to the last drop; excellent booze.
May 16, 2008
dontcry commented on the word supernaculum
Are you buying?
May 16, 2008
gangerh commented on the word supernaculum
HaHa! which and dont, you've given me superniculum buying!
May 16, 2008
dontcry commented on the word supernaculum
You're welcome. Now, seriously, can I get a drink?
May 16, 2008
gangerh commented on the word supernaculum
Over at The Verbal Arms. Soon. Mine's a rumdudgeon. What's yours?
May 16, 2008
dontcry commented on the word supernaculum
Well, in keeping with supernaculum I guess I'd have to have a ChateauLafitedudgeon, 1787, of course!
May 16, 2008
qms commented on the word supernaculum
The bottle's a liar at best,
As many a wretch can attest.
To drink supernaculum
Is a sad simulacrum
Of life that is lived with true zest.
April 27, 2016