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deodand

[ dee-uh-dand ]

noun

, English Law.
  1. (before 1846) an animal or article that, having been the immediate cause of the death of a human being, was forfeited to the crown to be applied to pious uses.


deodand

/ ˈdiːəʊˌdænd /

noun

  1. English law (formerly) a thing that had caused a person's death and was forfeited to the crown for a charitable purpose: abolished 1862
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of deodand1

1520–30; < Medieval Latin deōdandum (a thing) to be given to God < Latin deō to God (dative singular of deus ) + dandum to be given (neuter gerund of dare to give)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of deodand1

C16: from Anglo-French deodande, from Medieval Latin deōdandum, from Latin Deō dandum (something) to be given to God, from deus god + dare to give
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Example Sentences

The claim is against the property that caused harm, and the object or its equivalent value would be forfeited to the Crown as a “deodand,” which is something “given to God.”

Deodand, dē′o-dand, n. in old English law, a personal chattel which had been the immediate, accidental cause of the death of a human being, forfeited to the crown for pious uses.

The verdict returned was "Accidental Death," with a deodand of five pounds upon the bull.

The old law of Deodand was an expression of this feeling of resentment against inanimate objects even.

It was a principle of English common law derived from the feudal period, that anything through the instrumentality of which death occurred was forfeited to the p. 89crown as a deodand; accordingly down to the year 1840 and even later, we find, in all cases where persons were killed, records of deodands levied by the coroners’ juries upon locomotives. 

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