Meanings
plural athelings · alternative adeling · alternative aetheling · alternative ætheling · alternative etheling
- otherwise obsoleteA prince; especially, an Anglo-Saxon prince or royal heir.
1 more example
[…]to substitute as the Confessor′s heir, the Atheling Edward (son of Edmund Ironside), who was then an exile in Hungary. After the atheling′s return from exile, and his very suspicious death in England in 1057, the Norman duke must surely have realized that his chief opponent in England was likely to be Harold Godwineson[…].
1966, Dorothy Whitelock, The Norman Conquest, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 60
Synonyms & antonyms
antonym(s) of “prince”
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*aþulingaz
- Proto-West Germanic*aþuling
- Old Englishæþeling
- Middle Englishatheling
- Englishatheling
From Middle English atheling, from Old English æþeling, from Proto-West Germanic *aþuling, from Proto-Germanic *aþulingaz. Doublet of edling. By surface analysis, athel + -ing.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
atheling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atheling
“atheling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atheling. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “atheling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/atheling.
Source: atheling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.