Search results
- capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law.
www.britannica.com › topic › capital-punishment
People also ask
What does capital punishment mean?
What is the difference between death penalty and capital punishment?
Is capital punishment legal?
When was capital punishment used in ancient Greece?
May 21, 2024 · Capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. The term ‘death penalty’ is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘capital punishment,’ though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution.
- Roger Hood
capital punishment. Capital punishment is legal in some U.S. states and not legal in others. In some states it has been officially or effectively put on hold as a result of gubernatorial actions.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
capital punishment, or death penalty, Execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely employed in ancient Greece, and the Romans also used it for a wide range of offenses.
Britannica Dictionary definition of CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. [noncount] : punishment by death : the practice of killing people as punishment for serious crimes. an opponent of capital punishment. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT meaning: punishment by death the practice of killing people as punishment for serious crimes.
Mar 29, 2024 · This article was most recently revised and updated by René Ostberg. Crucifixion was an important method of capital punishment particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans until about the 4th century CE. The most famous victim of crucifixion is Jesus Christ.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment.
Punishment, the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person for a misdeed (i.e., the transgression of a law or command). Punishment may take forms ranging from capital punishment, flogging, forced labour, and mutilation of the body to imprisonment and fines. Deferred punishments consist.
