yepsen

English

A yepsen.

Alternative forms

• eapns (Yorkshire), espin (Derbyshire), ipson (Somerset), yaspen (Northern England), yeepsen (Essex), yepsintle (Lancashire), yespen (Essex), yespfull (Staffordshire), yestmus (Lancashire)

Etymology

From 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

yepsen (plural yepsens)

1. (obsolete, UK, dialect) Amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
2. (obsolete, UK, dialect) Two hands cupped together.

Synonyms

• goppenful, gowpen

Related terms

• yeepsen (“a double handful”)

References

• 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.