compurgation
Americannoun
noun
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Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of compurgation
1650–60; < Medieval Latin compurgātiōn- (stem of compurgātiō ), equivalent to com- com- + purgāt ( us ) (past participle of purgāre to purge ) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This form gradually fell into disuse before the more rational form of compurgation introduced into Teutonic courts in the fifth century.
From Prize Orations of the Intercollegiate Peace Association by Weston, Stephen Francis
For civil suits there was a provision against ‘wager of battle,’ and the accused again cleared themselves by compurgation.
From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon A Short History of the Church and a Description of Its Fabric by Hallett, Cecil Walter Charles
Proof was by compurgation, the ordeal having been abolished by the Church.
From Our Legal Heritage by Reilly, S. A.
But experience having shown that this method of trial was tumultuary and uncertain, they corrected it by the idea of compurgation.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 07 (of 12) by Burke, Edmund
They also introduced a barbarous system of trial, that by compurgation, i.e. exculpation by the oath of the defendant supported by a certain number of cojurantes, and that by ordeal, later called judicium Dei.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 8 "France" to "Francis Joseph I." by Various
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
