Hangmen

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who executes a death sentence by hanging; a figure in a game who is responsible for drawing the gallows; individuals involved in a profession that deals with executions, often linked to historical methods of capital punishment
2. Someone tasked with carrying out executions through the method of hanging; a role in a word-guessing game that involves a figure that is drawn as wrong guesses accumulate; professionals associated with the controversial aspect of justice related to death penalties
3. An individual responsible for administering capital punishment by hanging; a character represented in a game illustrating the process of deciphering a hidden word; members of a historical context where public executions were part of the judicial process

Etymology: "Hangmen" is simply the plural of "hangman," a compound formed from "hang" and "man." The noun "hangman" was already in Middle English as "hangman," "hongman," and "hangeman," built on the verb "hang" plus the common noun "man," in the same way other occupational names were formed. The plural follows the regular pattern for "man," with the vowel shifting to "men" as in "women" and "gentlemen." The meaning of the compound is literal: a man whose job involved hanging. Its use for the executioner comes directly from that sense, and the same word later gave a name to the guessing game in which players try to reveal a hidden word one letter at a time, with a stick figure drawn as wrong guesses accumulate.

Synonyms: executioners