gesith

See also: gesiþ

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English ġesīþ (“companion, fellow, comrade; companion or follower of an athel or king”), from Proto-West Germanic *gasinþ, from Proto-Germanic *gasinþô.

Pronunciation

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Noun

gesith (plural gesiths)

1. (historical) A companion to an athel or king in medieval England; a thegn; a comrade
   • 1903, William Stubbs, The constitutional history of England in its origin and development:

     Beowulf the son of the noble Ecgtheow became the gesith of King Hygelac, and, when he rose to be a chieftain, had lands, treasures, and gesiths of his own [...]

   • 1999, Saint Bede (the Venerable), Judith McClure, Roger Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People:

     The gesith took him and had his wounds attended to.

   • 2010, Liane Merciel, The River Kings' Road‎ (Fiction), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 73:

     "Now comes before you Luisan the Fat of Littlewood, who stands accused of murder," announced Heldric, gesith of Lord Ossaric's liegemen and most experienced in the ways of the court.

Related terms

• gesithcund
• gesithcundman
• gesithman

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “gesith”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Anagrams

• Tighes, eights