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.
The other kingdoms of the heptarchy he acquired, some by consent, but most by a voluntary submission.
From Commentaries on the Laws of England Book the First by Sir William Blackstone
Each state was ruled by a Župan or Prince who owed allegiance to the Grand Župan, the head of the heptarchy.
From The Land of the Black Mountain The Adventures of Two Englishmen in Montenegro by Reginald Wyon
The kingdoms of the heptarchy, or octarchy, had been united under the dominion of Egbert, the King of Wessex, in the year 827, and thus formed the kingdom of England.
From English Literature, Considered as an Interpreter of English History Designed as a Manual of Instruction by Henry Coppee
The band now struck up again, and played a waltz--a dance new to our country, but older than the heptarchy.
From Snarleyyow by Frederick Marryat
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
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.
