atheling
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of atheling
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English ætheling (cognate with Old High German ediling, adalung, Old Saxon ethiling ), equivalent to æthel(u) “noble family” (cognate with Old High German adoul, German Adel, Old Saxon athal(i), Old Norse athal “nature”; akin to Tocharian atäl “man”) + -ing noun suffix; see -ing 3
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.
There on the bench was, Over the atheling, easy to look on The battle-steep war-helm, the byrny be-ringed, The wood of the onset, all-glorious.
From The Tale of Beowulf Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats by Anonymous
The atheling of Geatmen uttered these words and 20 Heroic did hasten, not any rejoinder Was willing to wait for; the wave-current swallowed He is a whole day reaching the bottom of the sea.
From Beowulf An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem by Hall, Lesslie
“She said that she would give it me were the youth and the maiden of the forest the same as the atheling and his sister,” said Ethelred, merrily.
From A Maid at King Alfred?s Court by Madison, Lucy Foster
An indolent atheling: to the honor-blest man there Came requital for the cuts he had suffered.
From Beowulf An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem by Hall, Lesslie
In war-trappings weeded worthy they seem 50 Of earls to be honored; sure the atheling is doughty Who headed the heroes hitherward coming.”
From Beowulf An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem by Hall, Lesslie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
