wapentake

[ wop-uhn-teyk, wap- ]

noun
  1. (formerly in N England and the Midlands) a subdivision of a shire or county corresponding to a hundred.

Origin of wapentake

1
before 1000; Middle English <Old Norse vāpnatak (compare Old English wǣpen-getæc) show of weapons at public voting, equivalent to vāpna (genitive plural of vāpnweapon) + tak taking; see take

Words Nearby wapentake

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wapentake in a sentence

  • Each tree is covered with the coats of arms of the great families of that time in the wapentake.

  • "I am a man of the north country, from the town of Beverley and the wapentake of Holderness," he answered.

    The White Company | Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Then again, in several cases we find that the land-lord or land-rca shares the proceeds of a fine with the hundred or wapentake.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland
  • In Martinesleie wapentake there is a hundred in which there are 12 carucates for geld and there can be 48 teams.

    Domesday Book and Beyond | Frederic William Maitland
  • The wapentake of Bulmer is, as respects minute and accurate information, part of the terra incognita of Yorkshire.

British Dictionary definitions for wapentake

wapentake

/ (ˈwɒpənˌteɪk, ˈwæp-) /


noun
  1. English legal history a subdivision of certain shires or counties, esp in the Midlands and North of England, corresponding to the hundred in other shires

Origin of wapentake

1
Old English wǣpen (ge) tæc, from Old Norse vāpnatak, from vápn weapon + tak take

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012