Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The heir apparent to an ancient Celtic chief, elected during the chief's lifetime.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The chief, or holder of the lands and honors, in certain Celtic races; sometimes, the chief's chosen successor. See tanistry.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun In Ireland, a lord or proprietor of a tract of land or of a castle, elected by a family, under the system of tanistry.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The heir presumptive to a Celtic clan.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Irish Gaelic tánaiste, second, tanist, from Old Irish tánaise; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Irish tánaiste ("second-in-command").

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