frankpledge
noun
frankpledge is spelled F-R-A-N-K-P-L-E-D-G-E: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 69 million words in written English, the 262,293rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, frankpledge means “A form of collective suretyship and punishment under English law among the members of a tithing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of frankpledge is frankpledges.
How many letters and syllables are in frankpledge?
| Letters | 11: F-R-A-N-K-P-L-E-D-G-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 69 million words; the 262,293rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is frankpledge?
Frankpledge appears about once in every 69 million words in written English, the 262,293rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of frankpledge
- frankpledges plural
- frank-pledge
- frankenpledge
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does frankpledge mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A form of collective suretyship and punishment under English law among the members of a tithing.
King John granted to the prior and convent, in all their manors and lands, sac, soc, tol, and theam, infangenthef, and outfangenthef, with the ordeals or judgment by fire, water, and iron, and a common gallows in each manor; with a view of
- 2
Any group so similarly answerable for the conduct of all its members and liable for collective punishment.
- 3
A decener: a member of a tithing bound in frankpledge.
- 4
The tithing itself.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does frankpledge come from?
From Anglo-Latin franciplegium, a Latinization of Anglo-Norman frauncplege ("free pledge"), a mistranslation of Old English friðborh ("pledge of peace"), which had the corrupted form friborh, which led to the Modern English term friborg, as if it were *freoborh ("free pledge"). See also friborg, which refers to the predecessor of frankpledge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).