Meanings
plural gesiths
- historicalA companion to an athel or king in medieval England; a thegn; a comrade
The gesith took him and had his wounds attended to.
1999, Saint Bede (the Venerable), Judith McClure, Roger Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People2 more examples
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 [...]
1903, William Stubbs, The constitutional history of England in its origin and development"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.
2010, Liane Merciel, The River Kings' Road (Fiction), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 73
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*gasinþô
- Proto-West Germanic*gasinþ
- Old Englishġesīþ“companion, fellow, comrade; companion or follower of an athel or king”
- Englishgesith
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.
More words from Old English, Proto-West Germanic, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gesith. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesith
“gesith.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesith. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gesith,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesith.
Source: gesith on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.