\Hanse\, 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\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. &
Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h?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.