witan
Americannoun
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the members of the national council or witenagemot.
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(used with a singular verb) the witenagemot.
noun
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an assembly of higher ecclesiastics and important laymen, including king's thegns, that met to counsel the king on matters such as judicial problems
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the members of this assembly
Etymology
Origin of witan
1800–10; Modern English < Old English, plural of wita one who knows, councilor; akin to wit 2
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.
A "witan" in Anglo-Saxon times was the gathering of the king's advisers.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2013
Weid, a word meaning to see, with later connotations of wisdom and wit, entered Germanic as witan, and Old English wis to “wisdom.”
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Thou saidst the Atheling summoned an assembly of the Saxon witan?
From The Last of the Vikings by John Bowling
Opposition melted before him and on Christmas day, 1066, the Norman duke, having already been regularly elected by the witan, was crowned at London by the archbishop of York.
From A Source Book of Medi?val History Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance by Frederic Austin Ogg
In the earlier English constitution, the most striking features were the power of the witan, and the common property of the nation in a large portion of the soil.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
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.
