Dē'o-dānd', n.

n. [O. Fr. deodande, L. Lat. deodandum, from Lat. Deo dandum, to be given to God.] (Eng. Law.) A personal chattel which was the immediate occasion of the death of a rational creature, and for that reason given to God, that is, forfeited to the crown, to be applied to pious uses, and distributed in alms by his high almoner. Thus, if a cart ran over a man and killed him, it was forfeited as a deodand. Blackstone.

Deodands are unknown in American law, and have recently been abolished in England. Burrill.