thane
pronunciation
How to pronounce thane in British English:
UK [θeɪn]
How to pronounce thane in American English:
US [θeɪn]
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- Noun:
- a feudal lord or baron
- a man ranking above an ordinary freeman and below a noble in Anglo-Saxon England (especially one who gave military service in exchange for land)
Word Origin
- thane (n.)
- Old English þegn "military follower, one who holds lands in exchange for military service," also "vassal, retainer, attendant," from Proto-Germanic *thegnas (cognates: Old Saxon thegan "follower, warrior, boy," Old Norse þegn "thane, freeman," Old High German thegan, German Degen "thane, warrior, hero"), from PIE *tek-no- (cognates: Sanskrit takman "descendant, child," Greek teknon "child"), from root *tek- "to beget, give birth to" (cognates: Greek tekos "child, the young of animals," tokos "childbirth, offspring, produce of money, interest"). Also used in Old English 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 it has predominated in English probably due to the influence of "Macbeth;" normal orthographic changes from Old English ðegn would have produced Modern English *thain. Some historians now use thegn to distinguish Anglo-Saxon thanes from Scottish thanes.
Example
- 1. Make me thy cup and let my fullness be for thee and for thane .
- 2. Your face , my thane , is as a book where men may read strange matters .
- 3. There lived a great thane , or lord , called macbeth .
- 4. When first time thane earnest eyes with mine were crossed .
- 5. Thane city golf and sports club opened for play , launches plan to bring the historical course of its former glory .