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.
The atheling advanced then, He sits down exhausted.
From Beowulf An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem by Hall, Lesslie
He took her hand gently, and Egwina grew rosy in confusion, more overwhelmed by his simple words than those of the others, because of her surprise at finding him the atheling.
From A Maid at King Alfred?s Court by Madison, Lucy Foster
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
Elswitha I have not seen, for she married the king—he was the atheling then—before I was old enough to remember.
From A Maid at King Alfred?s Court by Madison, Lucy Foster
"I have three chiefs in my mind who can match these," said our atheling.
From King Olaf's Kinsman A Story of the Last Saxon Struggle against the Danes in the Days of Ironside and Cnut by Whistler, Charles W. (Charles Watts)
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.
