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Going back a year or two, was foreaware of the Cromwell nick "His Noseship" but not "Lord Achon" itself said to be from a character in James Harrington's writings Oceana. Haps heedful all the online references bear a slight sundered yet telling spelling "Lord Archon". Anyway, though I have some amazing thoughts anent the aforegone, I would be most grateful to firstly get other input.

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    Don't know the answer but, the question is lovely.
    – Oldbag
    Feb 19, 2019 at 9:10
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    The History site would undoubtedly appreciate this question, and it might attract some interesting answers.
    – WS2
    Feb 19, 2019 at 9:25

1 Answer 1

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According to the Wikipedia entry for this book, Harrington's Commonwealth of Oceana was first published in in 1656. An examination of the contents of the 1656 edition of the book, discoverable with a Google Books search, yields ten instances of "Lord Archon" and no instances of "Lord Achon."

It thus seems probable that Harrington intended to name the Cromwell character "Lord Archon"— since archon (or rather, αρχων) has the following meaning, according to Liddell & Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889):

a ruler, commander, chief, captain

Some subsequent editions may occasionally or consistently have mistyped the name as "Lord Achon," but the first edition seems to have gotten it right.

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  • Thanks to the inputters for the input. Anyone know how I get to WS2's said suggested "History site"? Feb 22, 2019 at 18:29
  • @ WS2/Sven Yargs sorry that I did not bother to list the 1887 book "Sobriquets And Nicknames" as my wellspring for the misspelling "Lord Achon" Bytheway, thanks for your input brethren. Feb 22, 2019 at 18:38

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