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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

thane

Audio Help [theyn] Pronunciation Key,

–noun

1.	Early English History. a member of any of several aristocratic classes of men ranking between earls and ordinary freemen, and granted lands by the king or by lords for military service.

2.	Scottish History. a person, ranking with an earl's son, holding lands of the king; the chief of a clan, who became one of the king's barons.

Also, thegn.

[Origin: bef. 900; late ME, sp. var. (Scots) of ME thain, thein, OE thegn; c. ON thegn subject, G Degen warrior, hero, Gk téknon child

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Thane

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

thane Audio Help (thān) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A freeman granted land by the king in return for military service in Anglo-Saxon England.
2. A man ranking above an ordinary freeman and below a nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England.
A feudal lord or baron in Scotland.

[Middle English, from Old English thegn; see tek- in Indo-European roots.]

thane'ship' n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tha·ne or Tha·na Audio Help (tä'nə) Pronunciation Key
A city of west-central India, a manufacturing suburb of Mumbai (Bombay). Population: 1,260,000.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
thane

O.E. ðegn "military follower," also "servant, attendant," from P.Gmc. *thegnas (cf. O.S. thegan "follower, warrior, boy," O.N. þegn "thane, freeman," O.H.G. thegan, Ger. Degen "thane, warrior, hero"), from PIE *tek-no- (cf. Skt. takman "descendant, child," Gk. teknon "child"), from base *tek- "to beget, give birth to" (cf. Gk. tekos "child, the young of animals," tokos "childbirth, offspring, produce of money, interest"). Also used in O.E. for "disciple of Christ." Specific sense of "man who ranks between an earl and a freeman" is c.1470. The modern spelling is from Scottish, where c.1220 it came to mean "chief of a clan, king's baron," and probably predominated in Eng. due to influence of "Macbeth;" normal orthographic changes from O.E. ðegn would have produced Mod.Eng. *thain. Some historians now use thegn to distinguish Anglo-Saxon thanes from Scottish thanes.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

thane
noun
1.	a feudal lord or baron
2.	a man ranking above an ordinary freeman and below a noble in Anglo-Saxon England (especially one who gave military service in exchange for land)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Thane

Thane\ (th[=a]n), n. [OE. thein, [thorn]ein, AS. [thorn]egen, [thorn]egn; akin to OHG. degan a follower, warrior, boy, MHG. degen a hero, G. degen hero, soldier, Icel. [thorn]egn a thane, a freeman; probably akin to Gr. te`knon a child, ti`ktein to bear, beget, or perhaps to Goth. [thorn]ius servant, AS. [thorn]e['o]w, G. dienen to serve.] A dignitary under the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in England. Of these there were two orders, the king's thanes, who attended the kings in their courts and held lands immediately of them, and the ordinary thanes, who were lords of manors and who had particular jurisdiction within their limits. After the Conquest, this title was disused, and baron took its place.

Note: Among the ancient Scots, thane was a title of honor, which seems gradually to have declined in its significance. --Jamieson.

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