/θeɪn/
OriginFrom Middle English theyn, thein, þein, from Old English þæġn, þeġen, þeġn, 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”).
- historicalA rank of nobility in pre-Norman England, roughly equivalent to baron.
“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 deno”
“The little island of Iona became the refuge of the sons and some thanes of Athelfrith, banished by Edwin.”
“Never need you fear
for a single thane of your sept or nation,
young warriors or old.”
- A large city and district of Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Formsthanes(plural) · thegn(alternative) · thayn(alternative) · thein(alternative, obsolete) · theine(alternative, obsolete) · Thana(alternative)
Source: Wiktionary — CC BY-SA 4.0