Popular Searches
on Ask.com
weregild - 5 dictionary results
wer⋅gild
[wur-gild, wer-] 
gɪld
–noun
| 1. | (in Anglo-Saxon England and other Germanic countries) |
| 2. | money paid to the relatives of a murder victim in compensation for loss and to prevent a blood feud. |
| 3. | the amount of money fixed as compensation for the murder or disablement of a person, computed on the basis of rank. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To weregild
| were·gild (wûr'gĭld') n. Variant of wergeld. |
| wer·geld (wûr'gěld') n. In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person's life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud. [Middle English wargeld, from Old English wergeld : wer, man; see wī-ro- in Indo-European roots + geld, payment.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
weregild
(Old English: "man payment"), in ancient Germanic law, the amount of compensation paid by a person committing an offense to the injured party or, in case of death, to his family. In certain instances part of the wergild was paid to the king and to the lord-these having lost, respectively, a subject and a vassal. The wergild was at first informal but was later regulated by law
Learn more about weregild with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
