thegn
Americannoun
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of thegn
1840–50; < Old English: thane
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Possibly it was the unit of assessment for military service, possibly it was the recognized endowment of a Saxon thegn.
From Project Gutenberg
Moreover, in the laws of the Wessex king, Ine, the value of a man’s oath is expressed in hides, the oath for a king’s thegn being probably worth 60 hides and that of a ceorl 5 hides.
From Project Gutenberg
But in the broad way in which the poet states it, it may be absolutely denied, inasmuch as the acquisition of wealth is made of itself to transform the ceorl into a thegn: a singular coincidence of idea with the vulgar modern theory, but incompatible with fact in an age when a dominant caste of gentlemen obtained.
From Project Gutenberg
Burh I can understand; authorities abound for its use as expressing the manoir of the Anglo-Saxon thegn.
From Project Gutenberg
In the days of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, a merchant who went three times over sea with his own craft, was entitled to rank as a thegn, or nobleman.
From Project Gutenberg
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.