In a popular song Drink To Me Only with Thine Eyes, first published in 1616 as To Celia by Ben Jonson, did the phrase drink to someone mean the same thing as nowadays, i.e. to say cheers for someone?
Thanks in advance.
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1So far, the earliest citation of that "drink to someone" phrase is from 1700, albeit in a context where they explain "toast" as being equivalent to "to drink to his health", which suggests it was a known phrase.– Sean DugganOct 27, 2020 at 12:49
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1@Sean Duggan: It was used in Shakespeare: "I drink to the general joy o' the whole table" (Macbeth) "With drinking healths to my niece: I'll drink to her as long as there is a passage in my throat and drink in Illyria: he's a coward and a coystrill that will not drink to my niece till his brains turn o' the toe like a parish-top" (Twelfth Night)– Peter ShorOct 27, 2020 at 12:57
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@PeterShor: facepalm As an actor, I should have thought of that. Well spotted!– Sean DugganOct 27, 2020 at 13:02
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1 Answer
Shakespeare's plays preceded Ben Jonson's song. And Shakespeare uses drink to with this meaning:
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table. (Macbeth)
With drinking healths to my niece: I'll drink to her as long as there is a passage in my throat and drink in Illyria: he's a coward and a coystrill that will not drink to my niece till his brains turn o' the toe like a parish-top. (Twelfth Night)
There is another definition listed in the OED that was current then,
To hand or present beverage for his use; to give drink to. Obsolete.
1470–1485, T. Malory, Morte d'Arthur: Thenne they lough and made good chere and eyther dranke to other frely.
However, this earlier meaning doesn't seem possible in Ben Jonson's song.
answered Oct 27, 2020 at 20:42
