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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Wapentake \Wap"en*take\ (?; 277), n. [AS. w?penge??c,
w?pent[=a]c, from Icel. v[=a]pnat[=a]k, literally, a weapon
taking or weapon touching, hence an expression of assent ("si
displicuit sententia fremitu aspernantur; sin placuit frameas
concutiunt." --Tacitus, "Germania," xi.). See {Weapon}, and
{Take}. 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 praefecturam 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 f[oe]dus accipiebat; omnes enim
quot-quot venissent cum lanceis suis ipsius hastam tangebant,
et ita se confirmabant per contactum armorum, pace palam
concessa. Waepnu enim arma sonat; tac, tactus est -- hac de
causa totus ille conventus dicitur Wapentac, eo quod per
tactum armorum suorum ad invicem conf[oe]derati sunt." --L L.
Edward Confessor, 33. D. Wilkins.]
In some northern counties of England, a division, or
district, answering to the hundred in other counties.
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire are divided into
wapentakes, instead of hundreds. [Written also {wapentac}.]
--Selden. Blackstone.
[1913 Webster]