wapentake

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wapentake subdivision of some shires (in which the Danish element of the population was large), corr. to a hundred. Late OE. wǣpen(ġe)- tæc — ON. vápnatak, f. vápna, g. pl. of vápn WEAPON + tak act of taking, f. taka TAKE. The evolution of the Eng. sense from that of the ON. word, ‘vote or consent expressed by waving or brandishing weapons’, can only be conjectured.

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