Maegth meaning

(history) In Anglo-Saxon England, an extended family, a kind of kindred group; clan, tribe, generation, stock, race, people.
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Origin of maegth

From Old English mǣġþ (“family group, clan, tribe, generation, stock, race, people”), from Proto-Germanic *mēgaz (“kin”). Cognate with Middle Dutch maech, Dutch maag, Old High German māg, Gothic (mēgs, “son-in-law”), equivalent to maeg +‎ -th.

Sentence Examples

  • The most elementary of these groups is the maegth, the association of agnatic and cognatic relations.

  • When the old kin-bond or maegth was beginning to weaken or dissolve, and the state did not yet afford adequate protection to its citizens, individuals naturally united for mutual help.

  • Personal protection and revenge, oaths, marriage, wardship, succession, supervision over settlement, and good behaviour, are regulated by the law of kinship. A man's actions are considered not as exertions of his individual will, but as acts of the kindred, and all the fellows of the maegth are held responsible for them.

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