yepsen
English
editAlternative forms
edit- eapns (Yorkshire), espin (Derbyshire), ipson (Somerset), yaspen (Northern England), yeepsen (Essex), yepsintle (Lancashire), yespen (Essex), yespfull (Staffordshire), yestmus (Lancashire)
Etymology
editFrom Middle English yespon, yepson, ȝespon, ȝespen, ȝispon (“a measure of volume equivalent to that contained in a person’s hands cupped together”), probably from Old English *ġēapsponn, *ġēapspann, from Old English *ġēap (“bent, curved”) + spann (“measure of the palm or hand”), equivalent to gap + span. Compare West Frisian gasp (“buckle, clasp”), Dutch gesp (“buckle, clasp”), Middle Low German gespe (“the cavity between the hands when held together”), Old Norse gaupn (“hollow made by cupped hands”). Doublet of gowpen.
Noun
edityepsen (plural yepsens)
- (obsolete, UK, dialect) Amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
- (obsolete, UK, dialect) Two hands cupped together.
Synonyms
editRelated terms
edit- yeepsen (“a double handful”)
References
edit- Wright, Joseph (1905) The English Dialect Dictionary[1], volume 6, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 570
- Shipley, Joseph T. (1955) Dictionary of Early English, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 739
- “yespon, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2016-10-17.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English compound terms
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- British English
- English dialectal terms