Advertisement
thegn (n.)
"military tenant of an Anglo-Saxon king," 1848, a modern revival of an Old English form; see thane.
Entries linking to thegn
thane (n.)Old English þegn "military follower, one who holds lands in exchange for military service," also "vassal, retainer, attendant," from Proto-Germanic *thegnas (source also of Old Saxon thegan "follower, warrior, boy," Old Norse þegn "thane, freeman," Old High German thegan, German Degen "thane, warrior, hero"), from PIE *tek-no- (source also of Sanskrit takman "descendant, child," Greek teknon "child"), from root *tek- "to beget, give birth to" (source also of Greek tekos "child, the young of animals," tokos "childbirth, offspring, produce of money, interest"). Also used in Old English for "disciple of Christ." Specific sense of "man who ranks between an earl and a freeman" is late 15c.
The modern spelling is from Scottish, where early 13c. it came to mean "chief of a clan, king's baron," and it has predominated in English probably due to the influence of "Macbeth;" normal orthographic changes from Old English ðegn would have produced Modern English *thain. Some historians now use thegn to distinguish Anglo-Saxon thanes from Scottish thanes.
The modern spelling is from Scottish, where early 13c. it came to mean "chief of a clan, king's baron," and it has predominated in English probably due to the influence of "Macbeth;" normal orthographic changes from Old English ðegn would have produced Modern English *thain. Some historians now use thegn to distinguish Anglo-Saxon thanes from Scottish thanes.
Share thegn
‘cite’
Page URL:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn
HTML Link:
<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn">Etymology of thegn by etymonline</a>
APA style:
Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of thegn. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn
Chicago style:
Harper Douglas, “Etymology of thegn,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn.
MLA style:
Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of thegn.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn. Accessed $(datetimeMla).
IEEE style:
D. Harper. “Etymology of thegn.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/thegn (accessed $(datetime)).
updated on January 24, 2014
Advertisement
