What is "hansel"

Handsel \Hand"sel\ (h[a^]nd"s[e^]l), n. [Written also hansel.] [OE. handsal, hansal, hansel, AS. handselena giving into hands, or more prob. fr. Icel. handsal; hand hand + sal sale, bargain; akin to AS. sellan to give, deliver. See Sell, Sale. ]

1. A sale, gift, or delivery into the hand of another; especially, a sale, gift, delivery, or using which is the first of a series, and regarded as an omen for the rest; a first installment; an earnest; as the first money received for the sale of goods in the morning, the first money taken at a shop newly opened, the first present sent to a young woman on her wedding day, etc.

   Their first good handsel of breath in this world.
   --Fuller.

   Our present tears here, not our present laughter, Are but the handsels of our joys hereafter.
   --Herrick.

2. Price; payment. [Obs.]
   --Spenser.

   Handsel Monday, the first Monday of the new year, when handsels or presents are given to servants, children, etc.

n. (alternative form of handsel English) vb. (alternative form of handsel English)

Hansel is a variant of the masculine given name Hans.

Hansel may refer to:

• Hansel Mieth (1909–1998), German-born photojournalist for Life magazine
• Howell Hansel (1860–1917), early American film director
• Marion Hänsel (born 1949), Belgian film director, producer, actress and screenwriter
• Phil Hansel (1925-2010), American swimming coach
• Charles Edward Mark Hansel (1917-2011), British psychologist

Hansel Varughese

• Hansel Ltd., the central procurement unit of the Finnish government
• Hansel (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse
• one of the main characters in the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel
• Hansel, a fictional character in the 2001 film Zoolander, played by Owen Wilson

Hansel (foaled March 12, 1988) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the final two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown races in 1991 and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse. As of 2010, he is the oldest living winner of the Belmont Stakes. As of 2012, he is the oldest living winner of the Preakness Stakes. Out of the mare Count on Bonnie, his sire was Woodman, a Champion 2-year-old colt in Ireland who was a son of the influential Champion sire Mr. Prospector. Woodman also sired the 1994 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Preakness Stakes winner, Timber Country, as well as the 1999 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Queen's Plate winner, Woodcarver. Hansel's owner was banker Joe Lewis Allbritton, who raced him under his Lazy Lane Farm banner.