Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Hanse
Hanse
(hăns)
, Noun.
[Cf. F.
anse
handle, anse de panier
surbased arch, flat arch, vault, and E. haunch
hip.] (Arch.)
That part of an elliptical or many-centered arch which has the shorter radius and immediately adjoins the impost.
Hanse
,Noun.
[G.
hanse
, or F. hanse
(from German), OHG. & Goth. hansa
; akin to AS. hōs
band, troop.] An association; a league or confederacy.
Hanse towns
(Hist.)
, certain commercial cities in Germany which associated themselves for the protection and enlarging of their commerce. The confederacy, called also
Hansa
and Hanseatic league
, held its first diet in 1260, and was maintained for nearly four hundred years. At one time the league comprised eighty-five cities. Its remnants, Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, are free cities
, and are still frequently called Hanse towns
.