Mansliht

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought
2. Old English word for the killing of a person, a crime recognized long before modern legal terms existed
3. A historical name for homicide, the act of causing another person's death in an unlawful manner

Etymology: Manslaughter is the Old English "mansliht," built from "man" in its old sense of "human being" (not specifically an adult male) and "sliht," meaning "slaying" or "killing," which descends from the verb "slean," "to strike or slay." The second half is the surprising part: "sliht" is the source of the modern word "slaughter," which in Old English could describe any killing, not only the butchering of animals. Over time "slaughter" narrowed toward violent or mass killing, and "manslaughter" kept the older, broader sense of a person being killed. The compound was not a legal invention at first. It is recorded in Old English texts where it refers to killing a human being in general, and the legal distinction between killing with and without malice developed over the following centuries in English common law. The modern meaning, an unlawful killing without the intent to kill or cause grievous harm, is therefore a later refinement of a plain compound that once described any human death.