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hanse

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Hanse¹

  • /hæns/
  • /hænzə/

Rhymes with -æns, -ænzə

Where it comes from

From Middle English hanse, from Old French hanse (“guild; guild fee”), from Medieval Latin hansa, from Old High German hansa, from Proto-West Germanic *hansu, from Proto-Germanic *hansō (“gathering; coalition; gang of men”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱómsōd (“union; gathering”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, with, along”) + *sed- (“to sit”). In reference to the Hanseatic League, via German Hanse.

Cognate with Old English hōs (“company, retinue, escorts”),

noun Hanses · hanse · Haunce · Hans

  1. historical A merchant guild, particularly the Fellowship of London Merchants (the "Old Hanse") given a monopoly on London's foreign trade by the Normans or its successor, the Company of Merchant Adventurers (the "New Hanse"), incorporated in 1497 and chartered under Henry VII and Elizabeth I.

    Similar: guild

  2. historical The rights and privileges of such guilds, particularly their trade monopolies.
  3. historical A commercial association of Scottish free burghs in the Middle Ages.
  4. historical The Hanseatic League: a commercial association of German towns in the Middle Ages.

    Similar: Hanseatic League

  5. alternative, historical Alternative form of hanse, the fees payable to a Hanse or its guildhall.

    Similar: hanse and guildhall

hanse²

  • /hæns/
  • /hænzə/

Where it comes from

See Hanse.

noun hanses · hans · haunse · haunce

  1. alternative, historical Alternative form of Hanse, a merchant guild or a former commercial league of German cities. The town does not seem to have had a hanse, nor have there been discovered any records showing the existence of medieval trade guilds; […]

    Similar: guild

  2. historical The guildhall of a Hanse.

    Similar: guildhall, hanse-house

  3. historical A fee payable to the Hanse, particularly its entrance fee and the impost levied on non-members trading in its area.

    Similar: hansing, hansing-silver, hanse-penny, hanse-gild

Similar: Hanseatic League

hanse³

Where it comes from

Compare French anse (“handle”), anse de panier (“surbased arch, flat arch, vault”), and English haunch (“hip”).

noun hanses

  1. That part of an elliptical or many-centred arch which has the shorter radius and immediately adjoins the impost. Now Workmen call each End of these Arches the Hanse, which Hanses are always the Arches of smaller Circles than the Scheme, which is the middle Part of these Arches, and consists of a Part of a larger Circle […]

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: Hanseatic League

Translations

Every language

noun merchant guild

Portuguêshansa
FrançaisHanse
DeutschGilde, Hanse
РусскийГа́нза Gánza

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MLA

"hanse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hanse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hanse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hanse

Chicago

"hanse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hanse.

BibTeX
@misc{hanse_2026,
  title = {hanse},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hanse},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}