The act of removing someone's head, historically used as a form of execution or a cause of death.
From Latin 'decapitare' (de- 'off' + caput 'head'). The word was used in medieval legal documents and became common in English by the 1600s.
Decapitation was considered 'noble' execution in medieval Europe (reserved for aristocrats) while commoners faced hanging—language itself encoded social hierarchy, with different words for different classes' deaths.
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