heptarchy

American  

[hep-tahr-kee] / ˈhɛp tɑr ki /

noun

plural

heptarchies

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

2. government by seven persons.

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

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heptarchy British  

/ ˈhɛptɑːkɪ /

noun

1. government by seven rulers

2. a state divided into seven regions each under its own ruler

3. 1. 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

   2. the period when this grouping existed

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Other Word Forms

• heptarch noun
• heptarchal adjective
• heptarchic adjective
• heptarchical adjective
• heptarchist noun

Etymology

Origin of heptarchy

First recorded in 1570–80; hept- ( def. ) + -archy

Example Sentences

Which medley, canton'd in a heptarchy, A rhapsody of nations to supply, Among themselves maintain'd eternal wars, And still the ladies loved the conquerors.

From The True-Born Englishman A Satire by Defoe, Daniel

No certain evidence remains to inform us when this liquid work was accomplished: perhaps in the Saxon heptarchy, when there were few or no buildings south of the church.

From An History of Birmingham (1783) by Hutton, William

It is true, we can derive from no quarter a favourable opinion of the state of England after the Saxon invasion, and during the tumultuous and bloody government of the heptarchy.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

Let any man try in this country to restore the heptarchy, do you think that any portion of the people would think that the project could be tolerated for a moment?

From Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1 by Bright, John

But, as in the Saxon times this country was an heptarchy, it is now a strange sort of PENTARCHY.

From Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke by Burke, Edmund