yepsen

English

A yepsen.

Alternative forms

eapns (Yorkshire), espin (Derbyshire), ipson (Somerset), yaspen (Northern England), yeepsen (Essex), yepsintle (Lancashire), yespen (Essex), yespfull (Staffordshire), yestmus (Lancashire)

Etymology

From Middle English yespon (“a measure of volume equivalent to that contained in a person’s hands cupped together”), ȝespon, ȝespen, ȝispon. From Old Norse gaupn (“hollow made by cupped hands”); cognate with English gowpen.

Noun

yepsen (plural yepsens)

(obsolete, Britain, dialect) Amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
(obsolete, Britain, dialect) Two hands cupped together.

Synonyms

goppenful, gowpen

Related terms

yeepsen (“a double handful”)

References

Wright, Joseph (1905) The English Dialect Dictionary‎, volume 6, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 570
Shipley, Joseph T. (1955) Dictionary of Early English, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 739
“yespon, n.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2016-10-17.

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