mishlan.
/ˈmɪʃlə/, U.S. /ˈmɪʃlə/ An alcoholic drink made in eastern Central America from chewed and fermented plantain, cassava, maize, etc. Frequently attributive, esp. in mishla feast.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > other alcoholic drinks > [noun] > from grain or cassava
chicha1581
pombe1625
boza1656
saké1687
mishla1697
manna-mead1753
piwari1769
marua1847
mirin1874
tiswin1877
merissa1884
waragi1916
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xi. 314 The Moskito Indians will take a ripe Plantain and roast it; then take a pint and half of Water in a Calabash, and squeeze the Plantain in pieces with their hands, mixing it with the Water; then they drink it all off together: this they call Mishlaw.
1732 M. W. Mosqueto Indian in Churchill's Coll. Voy. VI. 293/2 Their plantain drink they call Mushelaw.
1827 O. W. Roberts Narr. Voy. Central Amer. 128 Preparations were making for a grand feast and mishlaw drink.
1842 T. Young Narr. Resid. Mosquito Shore iii. 33 It is a custom to let their quarrels rest until they get inflamed by their filthy mushla.
1855 E. G. Squier Waikna 99 He even hinted his intention to get up a mushla feast for me.
1855 E. G. Squier Waikna 233 When the chiefs give a private mishla drink, they confine the mastication [of the cassava to a thick paste] to their own wives and children... After fermentation the mishla has a cream-like appearance, and is to the highest degree intoxicating.
1887 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 16 258 (note) On the Moskito coast..to this day at the Mishla feasts the drink (mishla) is prepared in the same way by chewing, &c.
1981 P. Theroux Mosquito Coast (1982) ii. xvi. 312 They had traded some ice for a calabash of mishla.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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