noun
Meaning 1
A multitude; army; host.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A multitude; army; host.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Alternative form of drighten
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Middle English drihte, from Old English driht, dryht (“a multitude, an army, company, body of retainers, nation, a people, men”), from Proto-West Germanic *druhti, from Proto-Germanic *druhtiz (“troop, following”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhrewgh- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Cognate with Old Frisian dregte (“people, crowd, escort, retinue, host”), Middle Low German drucht (“band, war-team”), Middle High German truht (“multitude, offspring”), Icelandic drótt (“people, entourage, bodyguard”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍃 (gadrauhts, “soldier”). Related also to German Truchsess (“steward”), from Middle High German truhtsæze (“chairman of a multitude, steward”, literally “sitting one/presider next to/in front of a multitude". The meaning "multitude" survives in present day German in the sense of "representing a court”), from Old High German truhtsāzzo.