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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:
before 900; late Middle English, spelling variant (Scots ) of Middle English thain, thein, Old English thegn; cognate with Old Norse thegn subject, German Degen warrior, hero, Greek téknon child
before 900; late Middle English, spelling variant (Scots ) of Middle English thain, thein, Old English thegn; cognate with Old Norse thegn subject, German Degen warrior, hero, Greek téknon child
Related forms
un·der·thane, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Thane
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
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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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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-
EXPAND"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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
thane
in English history before the Norman Conquest (1066), a free retainer or lord, corresponding in its various grades to the post-Conquest baron and knight. The word is extant only once in the laws before the time of King Aethelstan (d. 939).
Learn more about thane with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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