thane

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

thane, n. [OE. thein, þein, AS. þegen, þegn; akin to OHG. degan a follower, warrior, boy, MHG. degen a hero, G. degen hero, soldier, Icel. þegn a thane, a freeman; probably akin to Gr. te`knon a child, ti`ktein to bear, beget, or perhaps to Goth. þius servant, AS. þeów, G. dienen to serve.].

 A dignitary under the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in England. Of these there were two orders, the king's thanes, who attended the kings in their courts and held lands immediately of them, and the ordinary thanes, who were lords of manors and who had particular jurisdiction within their limits. After the Conquest, this title was disused, and baron took its place.  [1913 Webster]
" Among the ancient Scots, thane was a title of honor, which seems gradually to have declined in its significance."  Jamieson.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

thane, n. hist.
1 a man who held land from an English king or other superior by military service, ranking between ordinary freemen and hereditary nobles.
2 a man who held land from a Scottish king and ranked with an earl's son; the chief of a clan.

Derivative

thanedom n.

Etymology

OE theg(e)n servant, soldier f. Gmc

ROGET THESAURUS

thane

Nobility

N nobility, rank, condition, distinction, optimacy, blood, pur sang, birth, high descent, order, quality, gentility, blue blood of Castile, ancien regime, high life, haute monde, upper classes, upper ten thousand, the four hundred, elite, aristocracy, great folks, fashionable world, peer, peerage, house of lords, house of peers, lords, lords temporal and spiritual, noblesse, noble, nobleman, lord, lordling, grandee, magnifico, hidalgo, daimio, daimyo, samurai, shizoku, don, donship, aristocrat, swell, three- tailed bashaw, gentleman, squire, squireen, patrician, laureate, gentry, gentlefolk, squirarchy, better sort magnates, primates, optimates, pantisocracy, king, atheling, prince, duke, marquis, marquisate, earl, viscount, baron, thane, banneret, baronet, baronetcy, knight, knighthood, count, armiger, laird, signior, seignior, esquire, boyar, margrave, vavasour, emir, ameer, scherif, sharif, effendi, wali, sahib, chevalier, maharaja, nawab, palsgrave, pasha, rajah, waldgrave, princess, begum, duchess, marchioness, countess, lady, dame, memsahib, Do$a, maharani, rani, personage of distinction, man of distinction, personage of rank, man of rank, personage of mark, man of mark, notables, notabilities, celebrity, bigwig, magnate, great man, star, superstar, big bug, big gun, great gun, gilded rooster, magni nominis umbra, every inch a king, noble, exalted, of rank, princely, titled, patrician, aristocratic, high-, well-born, of gentle blood, genteel, comme il faut, gentlemanlike, courtly, highly respectable, in high quarters, Adel sitzt im Gemuthe nicht im Gebluete, adelig und edel sind zweierlei, noblesse oblige.