Joseph Bosworth describes a thegn as "one engaged in a king's or a queen's service, whether in the household or in the country", and adds: "the word in this case seems gradually to acquire a technical meaning, and to become a term denoting a class, containing, however, several degrees".
Joseph Bosworth beskriver en tegn som en person som "är engagerad i en kungs eller drottnings tjänst, antingen i hushållet eller i landet" och tillägger att ordet "gradvis erhåller en teknisk mening, och blir en term som betecknar en klass".