thane

See also: Thane, thanë, and þane

English

Alternative forms

• thegn, thayn
• thein, theine (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English theyn, thein, þein, from Old English þæġn, þeġen, þegn, from Proto-West Germanic *þegn (“man, warrior”), from Proto-Germanic *þegnaz (“man, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *teḱ- (“to give birth”); akin to Dutch degen, German Degen, Old Norse þegn and Ancient Greek τέκνον (téknon, “child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɪn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Noun

thane (plural thanes)

1. (historical) A rank of nobility in pre-Norman England, roughly equivalent to baron.
   • 1845, Johann Martin Lappenberg, translated by Benjamin Thorpe, A History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, published 2004, page 317:

     The Anglo-Saxon thanes were in all respects the predecessors of the Norman barons.
     The title of thane seems to have supplanted that of gesith, which appears only in the earner Anglo-Saxon laws, a denomination that may originally have designated the attendants or companions of the king, and whose wergild being triple that of the simple freeman, were, therefore, denominated not only gesithcund men, but six-hynde men.

   • 1910, Robert A. Thompson, The People's History of England, New York: Walter Scott Publishing:

     The little island of Iona became the refuge of the sons and some thanes of Athelfrith, banished by Edwin.

   • 2000, Wulfstan, Robert Boenig (editor and translator), Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Selected Writings, page 144,

     Although some serfs escape from their lord and turn away from Christendom to the Vikings and after this it happens that the clash of swords becomes common to thane and serf, if the serf utterly kills the thane, he lies unpaid by all of the serf's kin.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “baron”): hlæfdige f
• (antonym(s) of “title”): hlæfdige f

Derived terms

• thanehood
• thanage

Translations

A rank of nobility in pre-Norman England, roughly equivalent to baron

• German: Lehnsmann (de) m
• Irish: taen m
• Latin: thenus, thegnus, theinus, thegen
• Russian: тан (ru) (tan)
• Spanish: thane m

See also

• baron
• gesith < ġesīþ

Anagrams

• Anthe, Tehan, Nathe, 'neath, neath, Ethna, Aneth, Thean, Ethan, Neath, ahent

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English thane.

Noun

thane m (plural thanes)

1. thane

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.