Dictionary:

wapentake

  (wŏp'ən-tāk', wăp'-)

A historical subdivision of some northern counties in England, corresponding roughly to the hundred in other shires.

[Middle English, from Old English wæpengetæc (translation of Old Norse vāpnatak, act of taking weapons to indicate assent in an assembly) : wæpen, weapon + -getæc, act of taking (from tacan, to take; see take).]

A local division of a shire or county in old English law; the term used north of the Trent River for the territory called a hundred in other parts of England.

The name wapentake is said to come from weapon and take, an indication that it referred to an area organized for military purposes.