| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| wergeld |
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| SYLLABICATION: | wer·geld |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  wûr g ld |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also wer·gild or were·gild (-g ld) |
| NOUN: | 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. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English wargeld, from Old English wergeld : wer, man; see w -ro- in Appendix I + geld, payment.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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