Skip to content

Etymology · Old French

hanse

2 English words descend from Old French hanse, most common first.

HansardA member of a Hanse (“merchant guild”), or a resident of a Hanse town.
hanseA 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.