or THAIN, a name of an ancient dignity among the English and Scots, or Anglo-Saxons. Skene makes thane to be a dignity equal to the son of an earl. Camden will have it, that thanes' were only dignified by the offices they bore. There were two kinds or orders of thanes; the king's thanes, and the ordinary thanes. The first were those who attended the king in his courts, and who held lands immediately of the king. The ordinary thanes, or the thani minoris, were the lords of the manors, who had particular jurisdiction within their limits, and over their own tenants; these changed their names for that of barons, and hence their courts are called courts-baron to this day.