æþel
Old English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From a suffixed form of Proto-Germanic *ōþ-; see *ōþil (“homeland”). Cognate with Old Saxon oðil, Old Frisian ethel, Old High German uodil, Old Norse óðal.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ǣþel m
- homeland, ancestral territory
- noble, a person of the ruling class (a personified extension of the first definition)