in early Germanic and Anglo-Saxon law, a price paid by a person who has killed another to the family of the personkilled, to atone for the killing and avoid reprisals
: also ˈwereˌgild or ˈwerˌgild (ˈwɛrˌgɪld)
Word origin
ME weregylt < OE wergild < wer, man (see werewolf) + geld, payment: see geld2
Examples of 'wergeld' in a sentence
wergeld
On the morrow they will feel the lash for being there and work out the wergeld to repay the old crone for her daughter.