Standard Lemma guide

soken

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The ancient right (usually conferred by royalty) to hold a local court of justice and levy specific fees and fines.

The 'resort' (right) of specific farmers to have their grain ground at a specific mill or, inversely, the right of a mill to that custom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The ancient right (usually conferred by royalty) to hold a local court of justice and levy specific fees and fines.

A right of prosecution and judgement.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The area over which this right was established.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: soke

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A place that is regularly frequented.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English sookne, socne (“district held by a socage”), from Old English sōcn (“jurisdiction, prosecution, soke”, literally “act of seeking”), from Proto-West Germanic *sōkni, from Proto-Germanic *sōkniz (“seeking, inquiry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh2g-. Akin to Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃 (sōkns, “controversy”), Old English sacu (“legal case, dispute”), sēcan (“to seek”), Swedish socken (“parish”), Danish sogn (“parish”), Norwegian sokn (“parish”). More at sake, seek, soke. See also Medieval Latin sōca (“right of jurisdiction”), English soke.