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heptarchy

[hep-tahr-kee]

noun, plural hep·tar·chies.

(often initial capital letter) the seven principal concurrent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms supposed to have existed in the 7th and 8th centuries.

government by seven persons.

an allied group of seven states or kingdoms, each under its own ruler.

Origin:
1570–80; hept- + -archy

Related forms

hep·tarch, hep·tar·chist, noun

hep·tar·chic, hep·tar·chi·cal, hep·tar·chal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

heptarchy (ˈhɛptɑːkɪ)

—n , pl -chies
1.	government by seven rulers
2.	a state divided into seven regions each under its own ruler
3.	a. the seven kingdoms into which Anglo-Saxon England is thought to have been divided from about the 7th to the 9th centuries ad: Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria
	b. the period when this grouping existed

'heptarch

—n

hep'tarchic

—*adj*

hep'tarchal

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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heptarchy

hep·tar·chy