Athel (adj.) - of good birth, noble, a lord.
Now was ther on Nathan Neymes sone of Grece
that sought oft ouer the se fram cyte to other
Knewe contreys fele kyngdomes manye
& was a marener myche & marchaunt bothe
Sensceus out of Surye sent hym to Rome
To the athel Emperour an eraunde fram the Jewes
Caled Nero by name that hym to noye wroght
Of his tribute to telle that they withtake wolde
Nathan toward Nero nome on his way
Ouer the Grekys grounde myd the grym yth- Anonymous: The siege of Jerusalem (1390-1400)
The Middle-English Word of the Day is selected from Mayhew and Skeat's
"Concise Dictionary of Middle English."
As found on Greg Lindahl's website
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/concise/concise.html
The example text was found at the Middle English Collection of the University of Virginia Library.
http://etext.virginia.edu/collections/languages/english/mideng.browse.html
