Meanings
plural gesithmen
- A gesith.
Next to him in dignity came the ealdorman, and then the king’s thanes or gesithmen.
1865, W[illiam] E[densor] Littlewood, The Essentials of English History, 2nd edition, London: Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts; Wakefield: Alfred W. Stanfield, page 82 more examples
If any one received into his family a ceorl who fled from justice, he was obliged to pay his own were, but if he refused he was compellable to pay his own were, and then his gesithman was bound to pay his were also. Here the stranger, by being admitted into the family of another, became the gesithman of his host.
1818, Samuel Heywood, A Dissertation upon the Distinctions in Society, and Ranks of the People, under the Anglo-Saxon Governments, London: […] W. Clarke and Sons, page 251The gesiths, gesithmen, or gesithcundmen, were the military companions or followers of the Anglo-Saxon chiefs and Kings.
1830, John Allen, Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, page 149
Origin
- Old Englishġesīþman
- Englishgesithman
Learned borrowing from Old English ġesīþman, equivalent to gesith + -man.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gesithman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithman
“gesithman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gesithman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gesithman.
Source: gesithman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.