fyrd

F4Y4R1D2
/fɝd//fɚd//fɪɹd/

noun

In early Anglo-Saxon times, an army that was mobilized from freemen to defend their shire, or from select representatives to join a royal expedition.

OriginOld English fyrd →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

nounfyrd (plural fyrds)

plural fyrds

  1. historicalIn early Anglo-Saxon times, an army that was mobilized from freemen to defend their shire, or from select representatives to join a royal expedition.

    In Anglo-Saxon England, men were required to serve in a militia called the fyrd.

    2024, World Book Inc., The World Book Encyclopedia 2025: Volume 13, page 544
    1 more example

    Below the king were the eoldermen, the ruling nobility. The eolderman was the king's 'viceroy' in a shire, responsible for administration and justice, for calling out the fyrd and leading its forces in the field.

    Regia Anglorum - Anglo-Saxon Social Organisation

Origin

  1. Old Englishfyrd
  2. Old Englishfyrd
  3. Englishfyrd

Learned borrowing from Old English fyrd.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

fyrd. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fyrd

MLA

“fyrd.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fyrd. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fyrd,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fyrd.

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