Were"gild` (?), n. [AS. wergild; wer a man, value set on a man's life + gild payment of money; akin to G. wehrgeld. . See Were a man, and Geld, n.] O. Eng.Law
The price of a man's head; a compensation paid of a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer.
[Written also
weregeld,
weregelt, etc.]
Blackstone.
© Webster 1913.