Weregild

Weregild
Weregild Were"gild`, n. [AS. wergild; wer a man, value set on a man's life + gild payment of money; akin to G. wehrgeld. [root]285. See {Were} a man, and {Geld}, n.] (O. Eng. Law) The price of a man's head; a compensation paid of a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer. [Written also {weregeld}, {weregelt}, etc.] --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • weregild — weregild, or wergild /wirgild/wsrgild/ This was the price of homicide, or other atrocious personal offense, paid partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord for the loss of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin of the… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Weregild — Weregeld (alternative spellings: wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc.) was a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime. In early… …   Wikipedia

  • Weregild — Wergild Le wergild, littéralement « prix de l’homme », (également écrit weregild, wergeld, wehrgeld ou weregeld) est une somme d’argent demandée en réparation à une personne coupable d’un meurtre, ou d’un autre crime grave. Cette… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • weregild, or wergild — /wirgild/wsrgild/ This was the price of homicide, or other atrocious personal offense, paid partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord for the loss of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin of the injured person. In the… …   Black's law dictionary

  • weregild — were·gild (wûrʹgĭld ) n. Variant of wergeld. * * * …   Universalium

  • weregild — noun In Anglo Saxon and Germanic law, a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death or other serious crimes …   Wiktionary

  • Weregild — Lit. man payment . AS custom and law valued people in pecuniary terms according to their rank. For example in Mercia a *ceorl s life was worth 200s; a * thegn was worth 1,200s; an *earl, next below the king, was worth 6,000s. In the years… …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • weregild — were·gild …   English syllables

  • weregild — A fine or price paid, under the ancient law of the Saxons, for killing a man. A part of the sum so paid went to the king and the rest to the near relatives of the deceased. See 4 Bl Comm 188, 313, 413. It is generally accepted that the infliction …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • weregild — noun see wergild …   Useful english dictionary

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