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wapentake

 - 3 dictionary results

wap⋅en⋅take

  [wop-uhn-teyk, wap-]
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–noun
(formerly in N England and the Midlands) a subdivision of a shire or county corresponding to a hundred.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME < ON vāpnatak (cf. OE wǣpen-getæc) show of weapons at public voting, equiv. to vāpna (gen. pl. of vāpn weapon ) + tak taking; see take
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wap·en·take   (wŏp'ən-tāk', wāp'-)   
n.  A historical subdivision of some northern counties in England, corresponding roughly to the hundred in other shires.

[Middle English, from Old English wæpengetæc (translation of Old Norse vāpnatak, act of taking weapons to indicate assent in an assembly) : wæpen, weapon + -getæc, act of taking (from tacan, to take; see take).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

wapentake

an administrative division of the English counties of York, Lincoln, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, and Rutland, first clearly referred to in 962/963 and corresponding to the "hundred" in other parts of England. The term wapentake is of Scandinavian origin and meant the taking of weapons; it later signified the clash of arms by which the people assembled in a local court expressed assent. Danish influence was strong in those English counties where wapentakes existed.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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