Libation

Libation (Lat. libare, 'to pour out'), literally, anything poured out before the gods as an act of homage or worship; a drink-offering. The term was often extended in signification, however, to the whole offering of which this formed a part, and in which not only a little wine was poured upon the altar, but a small cake was laid upon it. This custom prevailed even in the houses of the Romans, who at their meals made an offering to the Lares in the fire which burned upon the hearth. The libation was thus a sort of heathen 'grace before meat.' Even so late as the last quarter of the 19th century Mr Bent found at Samos the spondē or libation poured out on the floor before drinking.