handsel noun & verb. ['hans(ǝ)l] Also hansel. ME.
[Corresp. to late Old English handselen delivery into the hand and Old Norse handsal giving of the hand, esp. in a promise or bargain (Old Swedish handsal, Swedish handsöl money handed over, gratuity, Danish handsel earnest money); ult. formed as HAND noun + base of SELL verb.]
A. noun.
1. Luck, fortune; a token, omen or indication of (good or bad) luck. ME-L17.

2. A gift supposedly bringing good luck, given to mark the beginning of a new year, a new enterprise, the wearing of new clothes, etc. LME.
■ H. T. Cockburn About the New Year..every child had got its handsel, and every farthing of every handsel was spent there.

3. A first instalment of a payment; the first money taken by a trader in the morning; gen. anything given or taken as a pledge of what is to follow. LME.

4. The first use, experience, trial, etc., of anything; a foretaste. L16.
■ P. Holland But this Perillus was the first himselfe that gaue the handsell to the engine of his own inuention.
b. verb trans. Infl. -ll-.
1. Give handsel to (a person). LME.

2. Inaugurate with some ceremony or gift; gen. inaugurate the use of, be the first to use, try, or test. E17.
■ M. Delany Send in..wine to your cellar at Welsbourne, by way of hanselling a new place.
■ E. FitzGerald If my Father's cook arrive..she shall handsel her skill on my fowl.

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