þeod

• þīod, ðēod, ðīod, þēad, þīed

From Proto-West Germanic *þeudu.

• IPA^(key): /θe͜oːd/

þēod f

1. nation, people
   • late 9th century, Orosius’, History Against the Pagans:

     ...on þǣm twām Ægyptum [sindon] fēower and twēntiġ þēoda.

     ...in the two Egypts, there are twenty-four peoples.

2. language
   • 1000-1020, Wulfstan archbishop of York Homilies

     and hēo mihton sprecan on ǣghwylcere þēode ðe betwux heofonum and eorðan wǣre

     and they could speak in every language there was between heaven and earth

   Synonym: ġeþēode

3. (poetic, in compounds) arch-, main, great
   • 8–9th century, Beowulf:

     Þa wæs þeodsceaða, þriddan siðe, frecne fyrdraca, fæhða ȝemyndiȝ.

     There were great scathe, for a third time, freakish firedrake, feuding in mind

Strong ō-stem:

• Middle English: thede, þeode, þeod, þede, theode, thed
  • Scots: thede, theid