ætheling

A form of atheling — A prince; especially, an Anglo-Saxon prince or royal heir.

Meanings

nounætheling (plural æthelings)

plural æthelings

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of atheling.

    The Encomium, composed within five years of the ætheling’s death, depicted the assassination as a martyrdom and portrayed Alfred as an innocent saint.

    2014, Nicole Marafioti, The King’s Body: Burial and Succession in Late Anglo-Saxon England, →ISBN, page 128
    2 more examples

    An elaborate tariff prescribed in shillings the “wergild” or exact value or worth of every man. An ætheling, or prince, was worth 1500 shillings, a shilling being the value of a cow in Kent, or of a sheep elsewhere; […]

    1956, Winston Churchill, The Birth of Britain, page 66

    Robert himself was credited with an attempt at an invasion of England, and he showed his support of the æthelings not only by giving them an honoured place at his court but by marrying their sister Godgifu to the count of the Vexin.

    1976, John Le Patourel, The Norman Empire, page 25
Cite this entry
APA

ætheling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A6theling

MLA

“ætheling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A6theling. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ætheling,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/%C3%A6theling.

Source: ætheling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.