A payment or compensation given to someone who has been harmed or wronged, particularly in Anglo-Saxon and medieval English law; an early form of restitution.
From Old English 'dǽd' (deed/action) plus 'bot' (compensation/repair). In Anglo-Saxon law systems, 'bot' was literally payment to repair harm—you could pay 'wergeld' (man-price) or other 'bots' to settle wrongs.
Medieval English had a whole system of 'bots' for different harms—'nosebleed bot,' 'tooth bot,' 'eye bot'—literally pricing each injury; 'deedbot' was compensation for wrongs committed, an early criminal justice system based on payment.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.