"Is there a Frankish word along the same line that might be the root or sumdeal (somedeal) the root of OF relesser?"

PIE lē(i)- 'to weaken, leave behind; feeble' >>> Frankish *lāz(z)an "to let, leave behind, allow" (akin to OSax. lātan, OHG lāz(z)an, ON láta, Goth lētan, OE lǣtan, lēt, lēton, lǣten > OFr. lesser, lais(s)ier > O.Fr. re + laisser "to relinquish, quit, let go, leave behind,"

Some say that the OFr. word is a blend of Frankish *lāz(z)an and 'Late Latin' lassō/ lassare...but...I'm not not won over by that thought yet. Anyway, I also think it a stretch to say that the word is only from Latin.

Something I read >>>

"There were also superstratum languages, such as the Germanic Frankish that overran Latin in France only to disappear later on (the language incorrectly became known as 'French'; the ones who really speak 'French' = Frankish are the Dutch)." - p.70, Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction by Robert S. P. Beekes and Michiel de Vaan (2011)

Ahhh, if only our politicians fit the meaning of Witenagemoot >>> "Meeting of Wise Men"

;-)

@AnWulf: "reich does hav a negativ air about it which is why I like "for-reich" for "nationalize" better than "for-rike". To me, again philosophically, nationalization is heavy-handedness of gov't. For-, here, can mean both "for" ... as in for the reich ... and the negativ intensifier that the for- forefast often has. It fits."

Again, we are of like mind on this. For-Rike/For-Riken/For-Rikening are great to mean "nationalize".

So, how about a blend of Rikedom and Folkdom? Folkrikedom.

@AnWulf: "It's a philosophical mindset. To me, gov't IS heavy-handed and all the negativs of word reich/rike."

I am with you, but I would rather stay with the wisdom of a Republic and the American Founders Fathers where the God-given rights of each man would be, more or less, shielded from a Rike's overreach. 'Reich/Rike' doesn't seem to mean that, does it?

AnWulf: "BTW, reich is loan to English as well."

Are you saying 'reich' was borrowed from New German into New English?

Enthralling Thought > rík(i) (P/Gmc. rīk(i)ja) might not be the best word to mean "government": Germanic tribes said reiks, rhix, rik-, to mean a "war-lord" king < one who became the leader of a folk through war. Hence the manifold word meaning of -ric- "wealthy, great, mighty, ruler, king, power(ful), authority, dominion, empire, reign. To give gainsay, Wulfilas, when writing the Christian bible in Gothic, did not write rīk(i)ja when talking about Jesus: "Art thou the King of the Jews?" was written "Thu is Thiudans Iudaie?".- John 18.33 in Gothic by Wulfilas.

The Germanic word for "leader, ruler, king" was Thiudan(s), and meant "of kingly blood". The Germanic folk took Thiudan(s) to mean that their leader was of a godly bloodline; A thiudan(s) was holy, in a way, to his theod.

Maybe rícedóm is a bit iron-handed? The ending -dóm means dominion, power, authority, property, right, office, quality, state, condition. So, why not thiud-dóm (see Cyne-dóm a king's power, office, etc. a kingdom). Or, Folkdóm, Leód-dóm, which is more in-line with the ideas of Repbulic and folks ruling themselves?

DID THE VIKINGS NAME AMERICA?

http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/viking.html

"Oh and I thought the suffix '-lic' in OE gave us the nowadays '-ly' ?"

It did.

What I was saying was:

Government (body of bureaucracy) in America = what the British call the State.

Government in British English = what Americans call the Administration.

That's all. One word; unalike takes on the same words meaning and brooking.