compurgation
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- compurgator noun
- compurgatory adjective
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.
Among the early Germans the settling of disputes and the testing of the guilt or innocence of an accused person were generally accomplished through the employment of one or both of two very interesting judicial practices—compurgation and the ordeal.
From Project Gutenberg
The persons brought forward to take this oath were known as compurgators, or "co-swearers," and the legal act thus performed was called compurgation.
From Project Gutenberg
Sire de, sketch of, 312; biographer of St. Louis, 312.Judith of Bavaria, 149.Julian the Apostate, 271.Jurats, in Laon, 328.Jury, not provided for in Great Charter, 308.Justice, among the early Germans, 22; among the Franks, 61-67;among the Saxons, 121-123;Charlemagne's provision for in capitulary for the missi, 138-139;compurgation, 196;ordeal, 196-197;administration of in the universities, 342, 344, 349.Jutes, settle in Kent, 70.Karlmann, son of Charles Martel, 105.Kent,
From Project Gutenberg
Tithings and the process of compurgation came to the assistance of other criminals, but the ceorl could appeal to none, and expect neither pity nor aid.
From Project Gutenberg
Compurgation, kom-pur-gā′shun, n. the custom, in Anglo-Saxon law, of permitting the accused to call in witnesses to prove his innocency, by joining their oaths to his: evidence in favour of the accused: vindication.—n.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
