hank

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hank, also haneke,^[2] probably borrowed from Old Norse hǫnk (“a hank, coil, skein”), compare hanki (“a clasp, hasp of a chest”);^{[3][4][5][6][7]} the OED reconstructs an older form *hanku.^[5][7] Related are hank (“a string, tie-band”) and hank (“a handle, ear of a pot”),^[5][8][9] and outside Scandinavian hank (“a handle”) and henken (“to hang (something)”), whence Henkel (“handle”).^[10][4] The word is ultimately related to hang.^[3][4][11] Weekley thinks the dialect hank "handle of a jug" is the same word.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

A loop or coil of rope, in nautical use: 1294–95 in Barnhart, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^[4][3] The Middle English Dictionary has henekes before 1325 for loops on the traces of a harness,^[2] and the OED's first example of a fastening loop is from 1388–9, in the Abingdon accounts.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From a loop used to fasten or hang things up, the word came to mean any coil of something flexible (1483),^[5] and by the 1550s it also meant a length of yarn or thread made up in a coil;^[3] the OED's first example of this is from 1575.^[5] It became a fixed measure in the textile trade: 840 yards of cotton yarn and 560 yards of worsted.^[13][11] At sea, a hank is a ring that holds a sail to a stay (1711).^[5][13] From the idea of a loop that holds came "a restraining hold" over someone, as in to have a hank on a person (1613);^[5] Johnson (1755) called this "a low word".^[14] In Cumberland wrestling a hank is a throw made by hooking the opponent's leg (1870).^[5] In dialect the word also meant a rope or knot, the handle of a pot, a habit or propensity, and, in Pembrokeshire, no hank with "no dealings with".^[15][5] The verb, to fasten with a loop, is recorded from the 14th century.^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1294–95 – a loop or coil of rope.^[4][3]
• before 1325 – henekes, loops on harness traces.^[2]
• 14th century – verb, to fasten with a loop.^[5]
• 1483 – a coil of anything flexible.^[5]
• 1550s – a coil of yarn or thread.^[3]
• 1613 – a restraining hold over someone.^[5]
• 1711 – (nautical) a ring fixing a sail to a stay.^[5]
• 1870 – (wrestling) a leg throw.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A loop, coil or skein of something flexible, such as rope, wool or hair: A hank of dark hair fell over her eyes.
2. A unit of length for yarn, such as 840 yards of cotton or 560 yards of worsted.
3. (nautical) A ring that can be opened to hold the edge of a sail to a stay.
4. (dialect) A loop used to fasten or hang something.

Verb

1. (nautical) To fasten a sail to a stay with hanks.
2. To form yarn or rope into hanks.

Related words

• hang
• hanker
• skein
• coil

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)