What does deodand mean?
A deodand was, in English law, any movable object — a cart, a horse, a weapon, later even a railway engine — that had directly caused the death of a human being. Because the object was deemed tainted, it was forfeited to the Crown and typically sold, with the proceeds given to pious or charitable purposes such as alms for the poor. The doctrine dates from medieval times and rests on the idea that the instrument of death was 'given to God'. Juries assessing a death were expected to value the offending item so it could be converted into money. By the nineteenth century the practice had become an awkward anachronism: when trains were involved in fatal accidents, the prospect of confiscating a costly locomotive made the rule commercially untenable, and the Deodands Act of 1846 abolished it. Today the word survives chiefly in legal history and tort-law scholarship, where it is often cited as an ancestor of modern ideas about strict liability.
nounIn English law, a personal chattel that had caused the death of a human being and was accordingly forfeited to the Crown to be sold for pious uses, such as alms or masses for the soul of the deceased. The doctrine was abolished in England by the Deodands Act of 1846.
- A personal chattel that caused a person's death, forfeited to the Crown for pious uses under old English law.
"The coroner's jury declared the overturned cart a deodand, valued at five shillings, to be forfeited for charitable purposes."
"Under medieval law, the runaway horse was judged a deodand and surrendered to the Crown."
"Legal historians trace the abolition of the deodand to the railway era, when engines involved in fatal accidents would have been forfeited at ruinous cost."
Regular plural; used when referring collectively to objects forfeited under the doctrine.
"Medieval court rolls record numerous deodands, from fallen trees to faulty carts."
In old English law, the thing itself — not the person — was put on trial: if a cart wheel ran over a child, the cart was 'given to God' and sold for charity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deodand
Deodand comes from medieval Latin deodandum, meaning 'to be given to God', formed from Latin deus ('God') plus dare ('to give'), with the gerundive ending -andum expressing necessity. It entered English in the fifteenth century through legal usage, retaining the sense of a thing that must be handed over for religious or charitable ends. Its Latin roots connect it to words such as deity and deify, which share the element deus. The institution itself faded with the Deodands Act 1846, though the word remains fixed in legal-historical vocabulary.
How deodand is actually used
Deodand belongs almost entirely to legal history; outside discussions of medieval and early modern English law it sounds pedantic or antiquarian. It is a formal, technical noun with no figurative use. The stress falls on the first syllable.
Easily confused with deodand
'Decade' means a period of ten years, while 'deodand' is a legal term for an object forfeited after causing a death.