manslaughter

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈmænˌslɔtər/ UK /ˈmanˌslɔːtə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the unlawful killing of a person without premeditated malice

The jury convicted him of manslaughter rather than murder.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the unlawful killing of a... homicide killing murder

Word family

Related forms slaughter slaymanhuntslaughterous

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

voluntary manslaughter
an intentional unlawful killing classified as a less serious offense than murder

Adjective + noun

Etymology

A compound of man (Old English mann, 'person') and slaughter (Middle English, from Old Norse slátr 'butcher's meat', related to slay). The legal sense 'unlawful killing without malice aforethought' developed in English law.

mann Old English slátr Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# manslaughter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈmænˌslɔtər/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmanˌslɔːtə/

## Meanings
1. the unlawful killing of a person without premeditated malice

## Examples
- The jury convicted him of manslaughter rather than murder.

## Synonyms
- homicide
- killing
- murder

## Related Forms
- slaughter
- slay
- manhunt
- slaughterous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: mann
- Root: slátr

## Etymology
A compound of man (Old English mann, 'person') and slaughter (Middle English, from Old Norse slátr 'butcher's meat', related to slay). The legal sense 'unlawful killing without malice aforethought' developed in English law.

## AI Etymology
Manslaughter is a compound of man (Old English mann, 'person') and slaughter (Middle English, from Old Norse slátr 'butcher's meat', related to slay). The legal sense 'unlawful killing without malice aforethought' developed in English law. The etymological trail includes Old English mann, Old Norse slátr. The same word family includes slaughter, slay, manhunt, slaughterous. Its current noun use means "the unlawful killing of a person without premeditated malice".

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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