Etymology 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”),
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.
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.
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Alternative, Historical Alternative form of hanse, the fees payable to a Hanse or its guildhall.
Hansard, Hanse association, Hanseatic, Hanseatic League, Hanse city, hanse-gild, hanse-house, Hanse league, Hanse merchant, hanse-penny, Hanse town, hansing, hansing-silver
hanse
noun
Etymology See Hanse.
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; […]1911, John Rhys, An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire, page 252:
In this, they resembled the alien merchant guilds and hanses of the medieval period.2011, Sheilagh Ogilvie, Institutions and European Trade, page 95:
2 more examples
Gilds and hanses seized control of the export trade […]2002, P. Boissonnade, Life and Work in Medieval Europe, page 208:
For the sake of convenience the title is generally shortened to Hanse, but the initial capital is retained, not least to prevent confusion with other hanses.2002, T. H. Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 1157-1611: A Study of Their Trade, page 1:
Historical A fee payable to the Hanse, particularly its entrance fee and the impost levied on non-members trading in its area.
Synonyms
guild, Hanseatic League, guildhall, hanse-house, hansing, hansing-silver, hanse-penny, hanse-gild
hanse
noun
Etymology Compare French anse (“handle”), anse de panier (“surbased arch, flat arch, vault”), and English haunch (“hip”).
1
Architecture 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 […]1736, Richard Neve, Neve's The city and country purchaser and builder's dictionary:
The building, from the tenor of the whole description, was in the style of the Renaissance, and the pillars (spiral or wreathed) probably supported the hanses, or spring of the arch.1846, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Quarto Publications, volume 1, page 60: