1. a gift given for good luck at the beginning of the year or to mark an acquisition or the start of an enterprise.
▪ the first installment of a payment.
verb
1. give a hansel to.
▪ inaugurate (something), especially by being the first to try it:"a floodlit fixture to officially hansel the completed stadium"
Word OriginMiddle English (denoting luck): apparently related to late Old English handselen ‘giving into a person's hands’, and Old Norse handsal ‘giving of the hand to seal a promise’, from hand + an element related to sell; the notion of ‘luck’, however, is not present in these words.
