hempen
adjCA /ˈhɛmpən/
Etymology From Middle English hempen, hempyn, from Old English *hænepen (“made of hemp, hempen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hanapīn (“hempen, made of hemp”), equivalent to hemp + -en. Cognate with West Frisian himpen (“hempen”), Dutch hennepen (“hempen”), German Low German hempen (“hempen”), German hanfen, hänfen (“hempen”). More at hemp.
1
Dated Made of hemp
- In fowle reproch of knighthoodes fayre degree, / About his neck an hempen rope he weares, / That with his gliſtring armes does ill agree;1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 125:
- A quiet land is this—a land where the slow-moving Basque, with his flat biretta-cap, his red sash and his hempen sandals, tills his scanty farm […]1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How the Army made the passage of Roncesvalles”, in The White Company […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 136:
2 more examples
- Trains from Lime Street to Edge Hill were hauled by an endless hempen rope worked by a stationary engine on the platform at the latter station.1942 May-June, “Cable Operation at Liverpool and London”, in Railway Magazine, page 174:
- Apparently, Bridport is noted for "its hempen manufactures. Its staple productions are twine, fishing nets, and canvas, and much hemp for the purpose is grown."2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 53:
2
Related to hempen ropes, i.e., to hanging as capital punishment.
- […] but rid himself also of the companionship of this ruffianly Sir Crispin, to whom no doubt a hempen justice would be meted.1904, Rafael Sabatini, The Tavern Night:
- Derived terms
- dance the hempen jig, hempen collar, hempen cravat, hempen widow