twelfhyndman

twelfhyndman noun: a man worth twelve hundred shillings in wergeld.

Noun

twelfhyndman (plural twelfhyndmen)

(historical, criminal law) A man worth twelve hundred shillings in wergeld.
- The oath of a twelfhind man was equal to the oaths of ſix ceorles; and if revenge was taken for the murder of a twelfhynd man it might be wrecked on ſix ceorles.1805, Sharon Turner, The History of the Manners, Landed Property, Government, Laws, Poetry, Literature, Religion, and Language, of the Anglo-Saxons, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […]...
- The nobility are frequently, and in later records generally, styled Thanes; which honour seems to be a territorial designation. They are also indicated by the fines imposed on them for crimes, and by the composition payable for their lives. And thus we find them divided into Twelfhyndmen and...1832 July, “The Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth. […] By Francis Palgrave, […]. The History of England; Anglo-Saxon Period. (Family Library.) By Francis Palgrave, […].”, in The Edinburgh...

It is remarkable that, though the syxhyndman is named at first, nothing more is said of him; and the twelfhyndman is defined to be a thane.1848, Henry Hallam, Supplemental Notes to the View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, London: John Murray, […], page 210:
In this computation a twelfhyndman was valued at six ceorls or twyhyndmen, because the weregild of a twelfhyndman was equal to the weregilds of six ceorls.1849, John Allen, Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […]...
The English burgess was probably eorl or ceorl, twelfhyndman or twyhyndman, according to his birth and descent;1885, John Beddoe, The Races of Britain: A Contribution to the Anthropology of Western Europe, Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, […]; London...

Learned borrowing from Old English twelfhynde man(n) / mon(n).

What does twelfhyndman mean?: Twelfhyndman means a man worth twelve hundred shillings in wergeld.
How do you use twelfhyndman in a sentence?: It is remarkable that, though the syxhyndman is named at first, nothing more is said of him; and the twelfhyndman is defined to be a thane.
What part of speech is twelfhyndman?: Twelfhyndman is a noun.
What is the plural of twelfhyndman?: The plural of twelfhyndman is twelfhyndmen.

Adapted from Wiktionary: twelfhyndman (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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