A historical Welsh territorial division or administrative district, similar to a shire or county.
From Welsh 'cantref,' from 'cant' meaning 'hundred' and 'tref' meaning 'settlement' or 'homestead.' Literally meaning 'a hundred homesteads,' it was a medieval Welsh administrative unit that may have been originally based on territory supporting 100 families.
Medieval Wales was divided into cantreds, which were then subdivided into smaller units—this 'hundred families' system shows how ancient societies used natural community size to organize themselves!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.