manslaughter
- 01 C1 Advanced
the crime of killing someone without intending to do so, often through a dangerous or careless action.
the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, typically categorized as voluntary or involuntary depending on the circumstances.
Simple“The driver was charged with manslaughter after the accident caused a death.”
In context“The jury eventually returned a verdict of manslaughter, concluding that while the defendant's actions were reckless, there was no evidence of intent to kill.”
UsageOften used in the phrase 'involuntary manslaughter' or 'voluntary manslaughter'.
Teacher's tipLearners should distinguish this from 'murder', which requires intent. In legal contexts, it is usually uncountable but can be countable when referring to specific charges.
“Gartshore was convicted of culpable homicide - the closest equivalent to manslaughter in Scots Law - following a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen in July.”
“The pair were jailed for 13 years in 2020 for manslaughter.”
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.