wer·geld 
(wûr
g
ĕld
′) also
wer·gild or
were·gild (-g
ĭld
′)
n. In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person's life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud.
[Middle English wargeld, from Old English wergeld : wer, man; see wī-ro- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + geld, payment.]