Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An Anglo-Saxon nobleman or prince, especially the heir to a throne.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Anglo-Saxon history: A crown prince or heir apparent; one of the royal family. A nobleman. Originally none but Anglo-Saxon princes were called athelings, and the atheling was the eldest son of the king or nearest heir to the throne, to which, however, he did not necessarily succeed; but the term was afterward extended to all who held noble rank. Also written etheling, œtheling.
Wiktionary
- n. A prince, especially an Anglo-Saxon prince or royal heir.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An Anglo-Saxon prince or nobleman; esp., the heir apparent or a prince of the royal family.
Etymologies
- From Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling ("son of a king, man of royal blood, nobleman, chief, prince, king, Christ, God, man, hero, saint"), from Proto-Germanic *aþalingaz (“prince, nobleman”), equivalent to athel + -ing. Cognate with Old Frisian etheling, edling, Old Saxon edhiling, Old High German adaling, Medieval Latin adalingus, adelingus (from Germanic). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old English ætheling. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Then about that barrow the battle-keen rode, atheling-born, a band of twelve, lament to make, to mourn their king, chant their dirge, and their chieftain honor.”
“Nor fared he thence to the Frisian king with the booty back, and breast-adornments; but, slain in struggle, that standard-bearer fell, atheling brave.”
“Yet a single atheling up she seized fast and firm, as she fled to the moor.”
“Of Sigemund grew, when he passed from life, no little praise; for the doughty-in-combat a dragon killed that herded the hoard: 37 under hoary rock the atheling dared the deed alone fearful quest, nor was Fitela there.”
“To folk afar was my father known, noble atheling, Ecgtheow named.”
“As daylight broke, along with his earls the atheling lord, with his clansmen, came where the king abode waiting to see if the Wielder-of-All would turn this tale of trouble and woe.”
“Found within it the atheling band asleep after feasting and fearless of sorrow, of human hardship.”
“The mighty chief, atheling excellent, unblithe sat, labored in woe for the loss of his thanes, when once had been traced the trail of the fiend, spirit accurst: too cruel that sorrow, too long, too loathsome.”
“The ancient king with his atheling band sought his citadel, sorrowing much:”
“A feeless fight, 92 and a fearful sin, horror to Hrethel; yet, hard as it was, unavenged must the atheling die!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘atheling’.
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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Rare Words - A
Not just rare words, but thousands of RARE WORDS WITH DEFINITIONS.
If you want to see the definitions, too, go to
http://phrontistery.i...aba, abacinate, abactor, abaculus, abaft, abampere, abapical, abarticular, abasement, abasia, abask, abatis and 1214 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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phrontistery - a
from phrontistery.info
aba, abacinate, abactor, abaculus, abaft, abampere, abapical, abarticular, abasement, abasia, abask, abatis and 1214 more...
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for school!
squally, monetization, honorificabilitud..., hornswoggle, collywobbles, slangwhanger, filibuster, cliona, beknow, gallimaufry, sylvan, aide-de-camp and 31 more...
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Spring
famulus, congeries, pogonotrophy, rosarian, anomie, aiguillette, paseo, insouciant, gimcrack, atheling, chelonian
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Eocene (Eosin) (Eoscene) (Eoseen) Eng...
Dawn Words in English
swefnum, swefna, secgan, goste, wealhstod, wald-swathu, hearpan, hwaet, leothcraeft, beorhtost, wyrd, dustsceawung and 133 more...
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There's a word for that?
temerity, tacit, froward, faineant, caterwaul, menagerie, ennui, sine qua non, lissom, multifarious, laconic, katzenjammer and 240 more...
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Awesome Words, Part 1: Less Common
These are words that I have learnt over the years and want to remember
epithalamium, hustings, verger, atheling, moue, pendulous, pendragon, funicular, pericope, fettle, eleemosynary, moot and 161 more...
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Take Me To Your Whosit
About leaders, particularly the authority-figure at the top of the tree.
leader, chief, boss, cap'n, executive, president, head, tsar, alpha male, alpha female, conductor, dean and 127 more...
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Defunct professions
Economists like to cite "buggy whip maker" as an example of a profession whose career prospects were dimmed, and ultimately quenched, by the inexorable march of technological progress. This is a li...
buggy whip maker, guillemot egg col..., bog iron hunter, nettle string maker, fuller, purple maker, tanner, gut girl, reddleman, wont catcher, navvy, ratcatcher and 239 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3255 more...
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The Old English Influence
Modern English words impacted by and descended from Old English.
a, aback, abaft, abide, about, above, abode, accursed, accurst, ache, acknowledge, acorn and 109 more...
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piehat's Words
termagant, rebarbative, wormwood, ursine, omnific, effluvia, virago, dilettante, bathetic, sanguivorous, quixotic, antediluvian and 29 more...
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Oldspeak
Tweets
Looking for tweets for atheling.
milosrdenstvi As in Edgar the Atheling; a sort of Early English nobleman. Aug 15, 2008