witan

noun /ˈwɪtən/

1. The Anglo-Saxon national council or witenagemot.

   But in estimating the powers of the witan, we must not lose sight of the fact, that the king sometimes assumes a tone of superiority scarcely consistent with its independence.

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Old English witan, plural of wita (“wise man”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry witan (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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