thane

thane
thane O.E. þegn "military follower," also "servant, attendant," from P.Gmc. *thegnas (Cf. O.S. thegan "follower, warrior, boy," O.N. þegn "thane, freeman," O.H.G. thegan, Ger. Degen "thane, warrior, hero"), from PIE *tek-no- (Cf. Skt. takman "descendant, child," Gk. teknon "child"), from root *tek- "to beget, give birth to" (Cf. Gk. tekos "child, the young of animals," tokos "childbirth, offspring, produce of money, interest"). Also used in O.E. for "disciple of Christ." Specific sense of "man who ranks between an earl and a freeman" is late 15c. The modern spelling is from Scottish, where early 13c. it came to mean "chief of a clan, king's baron," and probably predominated in English due to influence of "Macbeth;" normal orthographic changes from O.E. ðegn would have produced Mod.Eng. *thain. Some historians now use thegn to distinguish Anglo-Saxon thanes from Scottish thanes.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • thane — [ tan ] n. m. • 1765; thain ou than 1740; mot angl., a. angl. thegn « soldat, héros », a. teuton thegno, du gr. teknos « enfant » ♦ Hist. En Écosse, Titre que le roi accordait à certains nobles, à certains hommes d armes, et qui, plus tard, fut… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Thane — Thane …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Thane — (th[=a]n), n. [OE. thein, [thorn]ein, AS. [thorn]egen, [thorn]egn; akin to OHG. degan a follower, warrior, boy, MHG. degen a hero, G. degen hero, soldier, Icel. [thorn]egn a thane, a freeman; probably akin to Gr. te knon a child, ti ktein to bear …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Thane — Thane, Mehrzahl von Than (s.d.); daher Thaneland, bei den Angelsachsen so v.w. Herrengut …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Thane — Thane, vom angelsächsischen Thegene, ursprünglich die Dienstmannen des königl. Geleites, später gleichbedeutend mit Barone; in Schottland wurde der Titel T. durch Earl verdrängt …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Thane — Thane,   Thana, Stadt im Bundesstaat Maharashtra, im Westen Indiens, nordöstlich von Bombay, 796 600 Einwohner; vorwiegend Wohnvorort von Bombay; chemische, Textilindustrie …   Universal-Lexikon

  • thane — [θeın] n a man who fought for the King but was below the rank of a ↑knight in early English history …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • thane — [ θeın ] noun count in English history, a man who was given land in exchange for fighting for the king or another important person …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • thane — ► NOUN 1) (in Anglo Saxon England) a man granted land by the king or a nobleman, ranking between a freeman and a hereditary noble. 2) (in Scotland) a man who held land from a Scottish king and ranked with an earl s son. ORIGIN Old English,… …   English terms dictionary

  • thane — [thān] n. [ME thayne < OE thegen, akin to ON thegn < IE base * tek , to engender, beget > Sans takman , child: basic sense “freeborn man”] 1. in early England, a member of a class of freemen who held land of the king or a lord in return… …   English World dictionary

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