[wur-gild, wer-] 
| 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. |
| 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.] |
wergeld
(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
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gɪld