hempen
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English hempen, hempyn, from Old English *hænepen (“made of hemp, hempen”), equivalent to hemp + -en. Cognate with Dutch hennepen (“hempen”), German hanfen (“hempen”). More at hemp.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
hempen (not comparable)
- (dated) Made of hemp
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 125:
- In fowle reproch of knighthoodes fayre degree, / About his neck an hempen rope he weares, / That with his gliſtring armes does ill agree;
- 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How the Army made the passage of Roncesvalles”, in The White Company […], London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 136:
- 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 […]
- 1942 May-June, “Cable Operation at Liverpool and London”, in Railway Magazine, page 174:
- 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.
- 2023 December 27, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the way to Weymouth”, in RAIL, number 999, page 53:
- 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."
- Related to hempen ropes, i.e., to hanging as capital punishment.
- 1904, Rafael Sabatini, The Tavern Night:
- […] but rid himself also of the companionship of this ruffianly Sir Crispin, to whom no doubt a hempen justice would be meted.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Possibly from an Old English *hænepen; however this word is attested relatively late and was probably formed anew in Middle English. Equivalent to hemp + -en (“made of”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
hempen
- hempen (made of hemp)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “hempen, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-1-7.