Meanings
- not comparableHaving the rank of a gesith (member of the king's retinue) in medieval England; well-born.
The eorlcundman is worth his high wergild even if he be landless: the ceorl may attain to thegn-right and yet his children to the third generation will not be gesithcund.
1874, William Stubbs, The Constitutional History of England in Its Origin and Development, volume I, Oxford: at the Clarendon Press2 more examples
The same class which, regarded from the point of view of the wergeld, possessed completeness of kindred and the twelve-hynde oath, when looked at from another point of view was gesithcund, i.e. more or less directly in the service of the King and belonging to the official and landed class.
1902, Frederic Seebohm, Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon LawAmong the gesithcund class were men who, by virtue of the value the king put on their services, as military subordinates, as his representations in recently subjected territories, or as officers within his kingdom, acquired additional distinction. It became normal for men of gesithcund status to attach themselves not only to kings but to the greatest of their servants.
1973, D. J. V. Fisher, The Anglo-Saxon Age, c. 400–1042, Longman, →ISBN, page 131
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishġesīþcund
- Englishgesithcund
Learned borrowing from Old English ġesīþcund.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gesithcund. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithcund
“gesithcund.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithcund. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gesithcund,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithcund.
Source: gesithcund on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.