wergield

Old English

Alternative forms

• werġild, werġyld, werġeld, wereġild

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *werageld. Equivalent to wer (“man”) +‎ ġield (“payment”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwerˌji͜yld/, [ˈwerˌji͜yɫd]

Noun

werġield n

1. wergeld: a kind of blood money paid by a criminal to a victim, or to the victim's family if they were dead, set according to social rank

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	werġield	werġield
accusative	werġield	werġield
genitive	werġieldes	werġielda
dative	werġielde	werġieldum

Descendants

• Middle English: wergeld, weregelt, wergelt
  • English: wergeld
• → Old Gutnish: wereldi