Leoden

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a language or manner of speaking ; a poetic word for a people or nation sharing a common tongue
2. Old English word for speech or tongue ; a literary term for a folk or nation bound together by shared language
3. A tongue or way of speaking in older English verse ; a poetic name for a group of people united by their language

Etymology: "Leoden" is an Old English poetic form, a plural (and in some cases dative) of "leod," meaning people, nation, or a body of men. In Old English verse, a phrase like "leoden" could name a whole people or the men of a particular land, and the word appears in poems such as "Beowulf." The word's closest living relative is found in German rather than English. German "Leute," meaning "people," descends from the same Germanic root through Old High German "liut." English lost its version of the word after the Middle Ages, when "lede" fell out of use, so the German cognate now carries the sense the Old English word once had.