Werod

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English term for a band, troop or company of armed men, especially a retinue following a lord or king
2. A word from Old English meaning a host or retinue of warriors gathered together under a leader
3. The archaic name for a body of fighting men travelling or serving together in an early English household

Etymology: Old English "werod" meant a troop, company or band of people, most often a body of armed men or a retinue attached to a lord. It survives in the modern language only as a rare archaic term, and its best-known appearance is in the poetry of the period, where it refers to warbands and the followers who gathered around a chieftain in the hall. The word is related to "fær" and to the Old English verb "weorþan," which is why it can be glossed as "host" or "company" in dictionaries. Its meaning is closely tied to the social world of early English warfare, where loyalty to a lord was expressed through a shared band of retainers.

Synonyms: band, troop, host