wergeld

wer·gild

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wur-gild, wer-]
- /ˈwɜr gɪld, ˈwɛr-/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wur-gild, wer-]
- /ˈwɜr gɪld, ˈwɛr-/

Definitions of wergeld word

noun wergeld (in Anglo-Saxon England and other Germanic countries) 1
noun wergeld money paid to the relatives of a murder victim in compensation for loss and to prevent a blood feud. 1
noun wergeld the amount of money fixed as compensation for the murder or disablement of a person, computed on the basis of rank. 1
noun wergeld (historical, in Germanic legal) blood money, the monetary value assigned to a person, set according to their rank, used to determine the compensation paid by the perpetrator of a crime to the victim in the case of injury or to the victim's kindred in the case of homicide. 1
noun wergeld in early Germanic and Anglo-Saxon law, a price paid by a person who has killed another to the family of the person killed, to atone for the killing and avoid reprisals 0

See all 5 definitions of wergeld

Information block about the term

Origin of wergeld

First appearance:

before 1175

One of the 8% oldest English words

1175-1225; Middle English (Scots) weregylt, Old English wer(e)gild, equivalent to wer man (cognate with Gothic wair, Latin vir) + gild geld2; cognate with Middle Dutch weergelt, Old High German wergelt; see yield

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Wergeld

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Wergeld

wergeld popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 68% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 71% 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.

wergeld usage trend in Literature

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