handsel
English
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handsel
- /ˈhænd.səl/ UK
- /ˈhæn.səl/ UK
Rhymes with -ændsəl, -ænsəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English handsell, hanselle, from Old English handselen and/or Old Norse handsal (literally “hand-gift”). Cognate with Scots hansel, Danish handsel.
noun handsels · handsale · handsell · hansel
- A lucky omen.
- A gift given at New Year, or at the start of some enterprise or new situation, meant to ensure good luck. their first good handsel of breath in this world
- Price, payment; especially the first installment of a series. That whoso hardy hand on her doth lay , It dearly shall abye and death for handsel pay
verb handsels · handseling · handselling · handseled · handselled
- To give a handsel to. She would leave a gold guinea to hansel the baby.
- To inaugurate by means of some ceremony; to break in. And it is better undecently to faile in hanseling the nuptiall bed, full of agitation and fits, by waiting for some or other fitter occasion, and more private opportunitie, lest sudden and alarmed, than to fall into a perpetuall miserie, by apprehending an astonishment and desperation of the first r
- To use or do for the first time, especially so as to make fortunate or unfortunate; to try experimentally. Indeed there is no contrivance of our body, but some good man in Scripture hath hanselled it with prayer.
Translations
Every language
noun gift given at New Year
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Talk about this word "handsel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/handsel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. handsel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/handsel "handsel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/handsel.Cite this
@misc{handsel_2026,
title = {handsel},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/handsel},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
