weregild

wer·gild

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wur-gild, wer-]
- /ˈwɜr gɪld, ˈwɛr-/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wur-gild, wer-]
- /ˈwɜr gɪld, ˈwɛr-/

Definitions of weregild word

noun weregild (in Anglo-Saxon England and other Germanic countries) 1
noun weregild money paid to the relatives of a murder victim in compensation for loss and to prevent a blood feud. 1
noun weregild the amount of money fixed as compensation for the murder or disablement of a person, computed on the basis of rank. 1
noun weregild Alternative spelling of wergeld. 1

See all 4 definitions of weregild

Information block about the term

Origin of weregild

First appearance:

before 1175

One of the 8% oldest English words

1175-1225; Middle English (Scots) weregylt, Old English wer(e)gild, equivalent to wer man (cognate with Gothic wair, Latin vir) + gild geld2; cognate with Middle Dutch weergelt, Old High German wergelt; see yield

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Weregild

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Weregild

weregild popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 68% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 71% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

weregild usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer