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 the Appendix of Indo-European roots + geld, payment.] |
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