Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WAP'EN-TAKE, or WAP'EN-TAC, n. [Sax. wæpen-tac; but it is rather Gothic, as this division of a county was peculiar to the northern counties; wæpen, a weapon, and tac, tace, touch; Goth. tekan. See Touch. This name had its origin in a custom of touching lances or spears when the hundreder or chief entered on his office. “Cum quis accipiebat præfecturam wapentachii, die statuto in loco ubi consueverant congregari, omnes majores natu contra eum conveniebant, et descendente eo de equo suo, omnes assurgebant ei. Ipse vero erecta lancea sua, ab omnibus secundum morem fœdus accipiebat; omnes enim quotquot venissent cum lanceis suis ipsius hastam tangebant, et ita se confirmabant per contactum armorum, pace palam concessa. Wæpnu enim arma sonat; tac, tactus est – hac de causa totus ille conventus dicitur Wapentac, eo quod per tactum armorum suorum ad invicem confœderati sunt.” – LL. Edward Confessor 33. Wilkins. Lye seems to doubt this explanation of the word wapen-tac, because the word tac is not found in the Saxon. He seems not to have considered that the word is known only in the north of England, where the Gothic dialects prevailed; and surely the word must have been understood in the age of Edward the Confessor.]

In some northern counties of England, a division or district, answering to the hundred or cantred in other counties. The name was first given to the meeting, supra. – Selden. Blackstone. Wilkins.