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Ancient Irish chief's heir
Answer for the clue "Ancient Irish chief's heir ", 6 letters:
tanist
Alternative clues for the word tanist
Word definitions for tanist in dictionaries
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tanist \Tan"ist\, n. [Ir. tanaiste, tanaise, second, the second person in rank, the presumptive or apparent heir to a prince.] In Ireland, a lord or proprietor of a tract of land or of a castle, elected by a family, under the system of tanistry. This family ...
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"elected heir of a Celtic chief," 1530s, from Gaelic tanaiste "presumptive or apparent heir to a lord," literally "parallel, second," from Old Irish tanaise "designated successor," from Celtic *tani-hessio- "one who is waited for."
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. The heir presumptive to a Celtic clan.
Usage examples of tanist.
Atheling Aeled Fyrlafing, tanist of the ealdormann of Catterstow and sciphlaford of Groeggos.
Catterstow is the largest and richest shire in Baelmark, and the tanist is heir to the ealdormann--what you would call the earl.
He gripped the gunwale and waited to discover if the tanist was about to throw him overboard.
He had won his place as tanist the previous fall and was sure to challenge for the earldom itself very shortly.
He expected an outburst of maniacal Bael fury, but the tanist just laughed.
His rank of tanist somehow depended on the approval of the entire fyrd, as did that of the earl himself.
A few months ago he gambled by challenging the tanist, who had grown too cautious for the younger thegns.
The fyrd sided narrowly with Aeled, and the tanist yielded without even a token fight.
Any thegn may challenge the tanist, but only the tanist may challenge the earl.
Then, the cnihtas explained, talking in counterpoint, the tanist would march in bearing arms.
Of course an earl and his tanist should be close relatives and there was no one else.
Uncle Cynewulf, the tanist, lived in the largest with Cousin Wulfwer and a varying succession of women, and others nearby were occupied by Chancellor Ceolmund, Marshal Leofric, and numerous house thegns.
That might even explain how Cwealm knew the tunnel, although the tanist was notorious for always choosing docile mounts.
Aeled, appealed to in a letter, wrote back overruling his tanist, and as usual his judgment was sound.
A few months ago he had challenged one brother for the post of tanist and then another for the earldom itself.