Meanings
plural hantles · alternative hantel · alternative hauntle · alternative hontle · alternative hancle · alternative hankle · alternative hantill
- NorthernScotlandUKA considerable number or quantity; a great many; a great deal.
An Irish creature, Erbert Ellison was the name, ran the place for the trustees, he said, but if you might believe all the stories you heard he ran a hantle more silver into his own pouch than he ran into theirs.
1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 15Synonyms: abundance, battalion, arseload, assload, bellyload, boatload, brimful, busload
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA considerable number or quantity; a great many; a great deal.
Origin
- Old English*antæl
- Middle English*antel
- Englishhantle
Of obscure origin. Perhaps from Middle English *antel, *antæl, from Old English *antæl, *andtæl, equivalent to and- + tale (“number”); or more likely of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish antal, Danish antal (“a number, multitude”), Dutch aantal (“a number, a great many”), and German Anzahl (“a number, quantity, multitude”). The addition of initial h is believed to be due to influence from Middle English handfull (“handful”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
hantle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hantle
“hantle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hantle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hantle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hantle.
Source: hantle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.