manslaughter
UK /ˈmænˌslɔːtə/ · US /ˈmænˌslɔtɚ/ noun
Forms manslaughters
- noun (obsolete) The slaying of a human being.
- noun (law) The unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally to the commission of some unlawful act, but without specific malice, or upon a sudden excitement of anger; considered less culpable than murder, but more culpable than justifiable homicide.
Etymology
From Middle English manslaȝter, manslauter, equivalent to man + slaughter, or taken as an adaptation of Old English mansliht (“murder; killing of a person”), from mann (“person”) + sliht (“killing”), see manslaught. Cognate with Scots manslauchter (“homicide”). Compare also Old Frisian monslaga (“murder”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “manslaughter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details