English

Alternative forms

• manryd, mandred
• manrede, manredyn, manrent (Scotland)

Noun

manred ‎(countable and uncountable, plural manreds)

1. (Britain dialectal or obsolete) Homage.
2. (Britain dialectal or obsolete) Vassals collectively; the supply of men a lord can call upon in time of warfare.

   • 2009, Eric William Ives, “The March on Framlingham”, in Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 9781405194136, page 203:

     There he was joined by his sons and addition troops, almost certainly more of the Dudley manred from the Midlands.

3. (Britain dialectal or obsolete) The position of leader among fighting men; the conduct (of an army).
4. (rare, Britain dialectal or obsolete) Carnal intercourse.
5. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) The solemn undertaking to be one's faithful supporter, and the obligation so constituted.

Etymology 2

Noun

manred ‎(uncountable)

1. (mythology) primal substance of the Universe

   • 2003, Kennth Morris, “Druidism”, in G. De Purucker, editor, Theosophical Path Magazine, January to June 1930, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 9780766180734, page 131:

     They were made of the manred, that is, of the elements in the extremities of their particles and smallest atom … God was in each of the particles of the manred, ...

   • 2004, Lewis Spence, “The Celtic Idea of the Origin of Man”, in An Introduction to Mythology, Cosimo, Inc, ISBN 9781596050563, page 169:

     God pronounce his ineffable name, and Manred, the primal substance of the Universe, was formed. Manred was composed of thousands of teeming atoms in each of which God was present, and each was part of God.