gesith

From Old English ġesīþ (“companion, fellow, comrade; companion or follower of an athel or king”); equivalent to ge- +‎ sith.

gesith (plural gesiths)

1. (historical) A companion to an athel or king in medieval England; a thegn; a comrade
   • 1903, William Stubbs, The constitutional history of England in its origin and development:

     Beowulf the son of the noble Ecgtheow became the gesith of King Hygelac, and, when he rose to be a chieftain, had lands, treasures, and gesiths of his own [...]

   • 1999, Saint Bede (the Venerable), Judith McClure, Roger Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People:

     The gesith took him and had his wounds attended to.

   • 2010, Liane Merciel, The River Kings' Road‎ (Fiction), Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 73:

     "Now comes before you Luisan the Fat of Littlewood, who stands accused of murder," announced Heldric, gesith of Lord Ossaric's liegemen and most experienced in the ways of the court.

• OED 2nd edition 1989
• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• Tighes, eights