hempen

English

Etymology

From Middle English hempen, hempyn, from Old English *hænepen (“made of hemp, hempen”), equivalent to hemp +‎ -en. Cognate with Dutch hennepen (“hempen”), German hänfen (“hempen”). More at hemp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛmpən/

Adjective

hempen (not comparable)

1. (dated) Made of hemp
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, volume 1:

     In fowle reproch of knighthoods faire degree, / About his neck an hempen rope he weares, / That with his glistring armes does ill agree;

   • 1891: Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company

     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 ...

2. 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

• dance the hempen jig

Translations

made of hemp

• German: hanfen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• hempon, hempyn

Etymology

Possibly from an Old English *hænepen; however this word is attested relatively late and was possibly formed anew in Middle English. Equivalent to hemp +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛmpən/

Noun

hempen

1. hempen (made of hemp)

Descendants

• English: hempen
• Scots: hempen

References

• “hempen (adj.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-1-7.