witenagemot

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wit·e·na·ge·mot

(wĭt′n-ə-gə-mōt′)

An Anglo-Saxon advisory council to the king, composed of about 100 nobles, prelates, and other officials, convened at intervals to discuss administrative and judicial affairs.

[Old English witena gemōt, meeting of councilors : witena, genitive pl. of wita, councilor; see weid- in Indo-European roots + gemōt, meeting (ge-, collective pref.; see kom in Indo-European roots + mōt, meeting).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

witenagemot

(ˌwɪtɪnəɡɪˈməʊt)

(Historical Terms) another word for witan

[Old English witena, genitive plural of wita councillor + gemōt meeting, moot]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wit•e•na•ge•mot

(ˈwɪt n ə gəˌmoʊt)

n.

(in Anglo-Saxon England) the assembly of the witan; the national advisory council attended by the king, ealdormen, bishops, and nobles.

[1585–95; < Old English, =witena, genitive pl. of wita councilor (see witan) + gemōt moot]

Witenagemot

an assembly or council of the Witan, the Anglo-Saxon Council to the king; a modern assembly, e.g., the first select Witenagemot of the Sciences of the World, 1899; the Witenagemot at Cambridge, 1833.

Mentioned in ?

witan

References in periodicals archive ?

Once a year all of the witans of the kingdom met together in a grand council called the witangemot. (2)

The battle that saved the west: Arminius ("Hermann the Liberator") and his German warriors crushed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest--and in so doing redirected the course of history

Continue down Oxford Hill and swing onto High Street, and you will pass on your left 'Witan Way', named for the Witangemot, or council meetings, held by Anglo-Saxon settlers (evidence of whom can be found on Corn Street which stretches away from the other end of High Street).

WITNEY: A QUIET TOWN IN UNQUIET TIMES

Historically, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had Witangemots or, in brief, Witens as their national councils or parliaments.