Hanse \Hanse\ (h[a^]ns), n. [Cf. F. anse handle, anse de panier surbased arch, flat arch, vault, and E. haunch hip.] (Arch.) That part of an elliptical or many-centered arch which has the shorter radius and immediately adjoins the impost.
Hanse \Hanse\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. & Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h[=o]s band, troop.] An association; a league or confederacy.
{Hanse towns} (Hist.), certain commercial cities in Germany which associated themselves for the protection and enlarging of their commerce. The confederacy, called also {Hansa} and {Hanseatic league}, held its first diet in 1260, and was maintained for nearly four hundred years. At one time the league comprised eighty-five cities. Its remnants, L["u]beck, Hamburg, and Bremen, are {free cities}, and are still frequently called Hanse towns.