drighten

Alternative forms

• dright
• drightin (Scotland)
• Drighten

Etymology

From Middle English drihten, from Old English dryhten (“a ruler, king, lord, prince, the supreme ruler, the Lord, God, Christ”), from Proto-Germanic *druhtinaz (“leader, chief, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to hold, hold fast, support”), equivalent to dright (“army, host”) +‎ -en. Cognate with Scots drichtin, drichtine (“lord, the Lord”), and with Old Frisian drochten (“lord”), Old Saxon drohtin (“lord”), Middle High German truhten, trohten (“ruler, lord”) (dialectal German Trechtin, Trechtein (“lord, God”)), Danish drot (“king”), Swedish drott (“king, ruler, sovereign”), Icelandic dróttinn (“hero, ruler, lord”), Finnish ruhtinas (“sovereign prince”). Related also to Old English dryht (“a multitude, an army, company, body of retainers, nation, a people, men”), Old English ġedryht (“fortune, fate”), Old English drēogan (“to serve in the military, endure”). More at dree.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪtən

Noun

drighten (plural drightens)

1. (historical, Anglo-Saxon, Norse mythology, fantasy, paganism) A lord; ruler; chief; leader; prince.
   • 2010, Stephan Grundy, Beowulf:

     Believe me, my drighten, there is not one of us that has ever slacked on watch before!

2. (often capitalized) The Lord; Lord God; Christ.

Anagrams

• grindeth