DEODANDS

Noun

deodands

plural of deodand

Source: Wiktionary


DEODAND

De"o*dand`, n. Etym: [LL. deodandum, fr. L. Deo dandum to be given to God.] (Old Eng. Law)

Definition: A personal chattel which had caused the death of a person, and for that reason was given to God, that is, forfeited to the crown, to be applied to pious uses, and distributed in alms by the high almoner. Thus, if a cart ran over a man and killed him, it was forfeited as a deodand.

Note: Deodands are unknown in American law, and in 1846 were abolished in England.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

8 November 2024

REPLACEMENT

(noun) the act of furnishing an equivalent person or thing in the place of another; “replacing the star will not be easy”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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