deodand

de·o·dand

D d

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [dee-uh-dand]
- /ˈdi əˌdænd/
- /diːˈɒdand/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [dee-uh-dand]
- /ˈdi əˌdænd/

Definitions of deodand word

noun deodand (formerly) a thing that had caused a person's death and was forfeited to the crown for a charitable purpose: abolished 1862 3
noun deodand an item of personal property, as an animal, that causes a person's death and is consequently forfeited to the crown to be used for some pious purpose 3
noun deodand (before 1846) an animal or article that, having been the immediate cause of the death of a human being, was forfeited to the crown to be applied to pious uses. 1
noun deodand (Obsolete (No longer in use)) (law) An object forfeited by the state (and supposedly given to God) because it had caused the death of a person. 0

See all 4 definitions of deodand

Information block about the term

Origin of deodand

First appearance:

before 1520

One of the 28% oldest English words

1520-30; < Medieval Latin deōdandum (a thing) to be given to God < Latin deō to God (dative singular of deus) + dandum to be given (neuter gerund of dare to give)

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Deodand

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Deodand

deodand popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 61% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 69% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

deodand usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer