A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1501-1617, 1674-1691
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Hank, n.1 [Northern ME. hank (1483), Dan. and Sw. hank, Norw. haank, honk, Icel. hönk, ON. hönk, gen. hankar, in the same or similar senses.]
1. A coil or loop. c1420 Wynt. iii. 361.
In hy thai tha corddys gat, … And wytht ane hank than bath his handys Fast scho festynyde 1513 Doug. ii. iv. 34.
As he [Laocoon] etlys thar hankis to haue rent Of with his handis 1513 Ib. viii. 61.
The edder … Hir slydry body in hankis rownd al run
2. A skein: a. Of gold (or silver) wire or thread.The sing. form is sometimes used for the plural.1501 Treasurer's Accounts II. 61 (tuenti hank of gold … to the browd. stare). 1537 Ib. VI. 351 (tua grete hankis of gold). c1550 Rolland Court of Venus ii. 694 (ane reill … to reill thair hankis … of reid gold wyir). 1566 Treasurer's Accounts MS. 72 (sex double hankis of gold and siluer).
b. Of thread, cord, yarn, worsted, etc.1569–70 Haddington Treas. Acc. (for ane hanke of pake thred). 1584 Edinburgh Testaments XIII. 151 b (tua hankis of danskine ribbanes). 1590 Cart. S. Nich. Aberd. II. 391 (four hankis of birgis threid). 1617 Master of Works Accounts XV. 70 (xliij hankis of skanȝie and merling cord). 1674 Peebles B. Rec. II. 88 (that … all woollen yairne … be reilled in hankes). 1691 Foulis Acc. Bk. 131 (4 hankes of twyne). 1691 Ib. 177 (2 hanks whip cord).fig. To hald ane hank, keep in hand a hank, to retain hold or control of a situation. a1568 Balnavis Bannatyne MS 138 b/23.
Ȝe tyne the thank, man, hald ane hank Or all be past away a1689 Cleland Poems 107.
If we with manse and gleib be twin'd, I swear I know no trade behind, A stipend is not on each bank, It's good to keep in hand a hank
c. Of wire in the form of a skein.1538–9 Master of Works Accounts V. 26 (for thre hankis irne wyre). 1569 Edinburgh Testaments I. 238 b (ane hank of chaplane wyir). 1591 Ib. XXII. 363 (twelf hankis of narrow wyre for fische huikis). 1680 Blackness Customs 3 b.
Fyftie pund weycht of iron wyer in tuelfe hanks
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"Hank n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/hank_n_1>
