weregild

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wer·geld

W0094100 (wûr′gĕld′) also wer·gild or were·gild (-gĭld′)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 Indo-European roots + geld, payment.]

weregild, wergild

(in Anglo-Saxon society) a payment made to the family of a slain man by his killer or the killer’s family as compensation, atonement, and to avoid reprisals.See also: Dues and Payment