A weregild or wergeld was a defined value placed on every man graded according to rank, used as a basis of a fine or compensation for murder, disablement, injury, and certain other serious crimes against that person. It was assessed from the guilty party, payable as restitution to the victim's family. [8][9]

wergild, (Old English: “man payment”), in ancient Germanic law, the amount of compensation paid by a person committing an offense to the injured party or, in case of death, to his family. In certain instances part of the wergild was paid to the king and to the lord—these having lost, respectively, a subject and a vassal.

The meaning of WERGILD is the value set in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law upon human life in accordance with rank and paid as compensation to the kindred or lord of a slain person.

Old English wergeld, from wer man (related to Old Norse ver, Latin vir) + gield tribute (related to Gothic gild, Old High German gelt payment); see yield

money paid to the relatives of a murder victim in compensation for loss and to prevent a blood feud. the amount of money fixed as compensation for the murder or disablement of a person, …

Old English wergeld, from wer man (related to Old Norse ver, Latin vir) + gield tribute (related to Gothic gild, Old High German gelt payment); see yield

Sometimes a feud could be settled without any more killing if the killer or his tribe agreed to pay money to the dead man's family. This money was called 'wer-gild' or 'man-price'. The price for killing a lord or king was highest. The wer-gild for a thane …

(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.

(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.

Find out all about Weregild 📙: meaning, pronunciation, synonyms, antonyms, origin, difficulty, usage index and more. Only at Word Panda dictionary.