coroner English · revision 1913

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɒ.ɹə.nə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɔɹ.ə.nɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|xno|corouner|t=officer of the crown]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''coroune'' “crown”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la|corona|t=crown]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The officer's Latin title was ''custos placitorum coronae'', “guardian of the crown's pleas”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An officer of a county or borough charged with maintaining the rights of the crown (1194, in the Latin title, according to the OED).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The English word appears in the mid-14th century^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) (mid-13th as a surname).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The coroner was originally responsible for protecting the crown's property and interests, including the property of executed criminals.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The duties of the office gradually narrowed, and by the 17th century its chief function was to determine the cause of deaths that were not obviously natural.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1194 – the office of guardian of the crown's pleas.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1350 – ''corowner'', an officer of the crown.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1577 – the chief officer of a sheading on the Isle of Man.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1600s – mainly an inquirer into unnatural deaths.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A public officer whose main duty is to hold an [[inquest]] into any death thought not to be from natural causes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The administrative head of a sheading on the [[Isle of Man]].^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coronership]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crown]]

+ * [[corona]]

+ * [[coronation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}