Hogmanay

Hogmanay [hog-muh-ney] ExamplesWord Origin noun Scot.

1. the eve of New Year’s Day.
2. (lowercase) a gift given on Hogmanay.

Origin of Hogmanay First recorded in 1670–80; origin uncertain Examples from the Web for hogmanay Historical Examples of hogmanay

Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name for the last day of the year.

Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I.

Sir James George Frazer

Only two Jocks had got out and kept their Hogmanay elsewhere and quite elsehow—a creditably small proportion out of forty men.

Non-combatants and Others

Rose Macaulay

When the Provost gave his grand spree on Hogmanay there was never an invitation for the Gourlay youngsters.

The House with the Green Shutters

George Douglas Brown

On the eve of “Hogmanay,” as it is called, everybody stays up to welcome the New Year, with great jollification.

Our Little Scotch Cousin

Blanche McManus

Each child gets a quadrant of oat-cake (sometimes with cheese), and this is called the “Hogmanay.”

Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan

Clement A. Miles

British Dictionary definitions for hogmanay Hogmanay noun

1. (sometimes not capital)
   1. New Year’s Eve in Scotland
   2. (as modifier)a Hogmanay party See also first-foot

Word Origin for Hogmanay C17: Scottish and Northern English, perhaps from Norman French hoguinane, from Old French aguillanneuf the last day of the year; also, a New Year’s eve gift