heretog

H4E1R1E1T1O1G2

noun

The leader or commander of an army in Saxon times.

OriginMiddle English heretogh ← Old English heretoga ← Proto-West Germanic *harjatogō →
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Meanings

nounheretog (plural heretogs)

plural heretogs · alternative heretoch

  1. historicalThe leader or commander of an army in Saxon times.
  2. historicalA marshal in Anglo-Saxon times

    In the time of our Saxon ancestors, as appears from Edward the Confessor’s laws, the military force of this kingdom was in the hands of the dukes or heretochs, who were constituted through every province and county in the kingdom.

    William Blackstone, volume 1

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*harjatogō
  2. Old Englishheretoga
  3. Middle Englishheretogh
  4. Englishheretog

From Middle English heretogh, heretoȝe, from Old English heretoga, heretoha (“commander, general”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjatogō, equivalent to here (“army”) + tog. Doublet of heretoga (borrowed from Old English) and herzog (borrowed from the German cognate Herzog (“duke”)). The form likely did not naturally survive in daily use (an expected descendant from dialect may be *heretow), but was revived by scholars.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

heretog. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heretog

MLA

“heretog.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heretog. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heretog,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heretog.

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