Why this word is great
MANBOTE — [Noun] A sum paid to a lord as compensation for the killing of his vassal, servant, or tenant. From Old English mannbōt ("fine paid to the lord of a slain man or vassal"), from mann ("man") + bōt ("compensation, amends"). Unlike "wergild" (which settles debts with grief) or "blood money" (which smears all transactions with the same crimson stain), manbote is a ledger entry, a transaction between lord and lord. It is the weight of a peasant’s corpse measured in silver coins, the parchment tally of a steward’s quill, the silence of a field now one worker short—proof that even death could be taxed, and loyalty had its price.