Hanse

English

/hæns/

noun
Definitions
  • (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 VII of Henry VII and I of Elizabeth I.
  • (historical) The rights and privileges of such guilds, particularly their trade monopolies.
  • (historical) A commercial association of Scottish free burghs in the Middle Ages.
  • (historical) The Hanseatic League: a commercial association of German towns in the Middle Ages.
  • (historical) (alternative form of) hanse, the fees payable to a Hanse or its guildhall.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English hanse derived from Old French hanse (merchant guild, membership fee for a merchant guild, guild fee, guild) derived from Latin hansa derived from Old High German hansa (guild, community, group) derived from Proto-Germanic *hansō (crowd, gathering, coalition, gang of men) derived from Proto-Indo-European *ḱómsōd (union, gathering), *ḱóm (with, along, next to, at, by, beside, near) derived from German Hanse (Hanseatic League).

Origin

German (Berlin)

Hanse

Gloss

Hanseatic League

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms