witann.
/ˈwɪtən/, U.S. /ˈwɪˌtɑn/ Historical.
The members of the national council in Anglo-Saxon times; the council itself, the witenagemot n. Also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > council of state > [noun] > English or British
privy council1450
Secret Council1546
council-table1678
witan1807
1807 S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons (ed. 2) II. x. iv. 226 The treaty..is said to have been made by the king and his witan.
1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. (new ed.) I. 36 Edward, the Elder,..was chosen by the Witan to succeed his father, Alfred.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People i. §1. 4 Their homesteads clustered round a moot-hill..Here, too, the ‘witan’, the Wise Men of the village, met to settle questions of peace and war.
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold ii. ii. 63 William. Good, good, and thou wilt help me to the crown. Harold. Ay..if the Witan will consent to this.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1807