heptarchy
Americannoun
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heptarchies
plural
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(often initial capital letter) the seven principal concurrent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms supposed to have existed in the 7th and 8th centuries.
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government by seven persons.
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an allied group of seven states or kingdoms, each under its own ruler.
noun
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government by seven rulers
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a state divided into seven regions each under its own ruler
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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
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the period when this grouping existed
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of heptarchy
First recorded in 1570–80; hept- ( def. ) + -archy
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.
While the heptarchy lasted, these offices were only during the king's pleasure; at last they became during life.
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 357, February 21, 1829 by Various
They are not all equal in rank, and even in the work of that heptarchy of genius, there were trivial things to be found....
From Stories of Authors, British and American by Edwin Watts Chubb
Even within the short memorials of modern history we find a heptarchy in England.
From The Columbiad by Joel Barlow
Still another version relates that Odin and Frigga had seven sons, who founded the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.
From Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas by H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber
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 William Hutton
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