noun
- A personal possession or object forfeited to the Crown in medieval English law when it was the direct cause of a person's death.
Usage: archaic; historical; English legal history
Examples
- Under English common law, a deodand was seized by the Crown as a form of punishment or expiation.
- If a horse caused a person's death, the horse itself could be declared a deodand.
- The practice of deodand reflected medieval beliefs about moral responsibility of objects.
- Deodands were eventually abolished in the 19th century as legal systems modernized.
- A cart that overturned and killed a traveler might be claimed as a deodand by royal authorities.