danegeld Meaning, Definition & Usage

Dane"geld`, Dane"gelt` noun (Also<
  • Danegeld
  • Danegelt
)
Etymology
AS. danegeld. See Dane, and Geld, n.
Definitions
  1. (Eng. Hist.) An annual tax formerly laid on the English nation to buy off the ravages of Danish invaders, or to maintain forces to oppose them. It afterward became a permanent tax, raised by an assessment, at first of one shilling, afterward of two shillings, upon every hide of land throughout the realm. Wharton's Law Dict. Tomlins.

Webster 1913