Coup de grâce: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 11:03, 21 August 2024

A coup de grâce (/ˌkuː də ˈɡrɑːs/; French: [ku də ɡʁɑs] ^ⓘ 'blow of mercy') is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal.^[1]^[2] It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. The meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death.^[2]

Modern law

Today, a coup de grâce for incapacitated soldiers would be a war crime: the laws of war mandate caring for the incapacitated and prohibit mercy killing.^[3]

References

^ Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, eds. The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005. ISBN 978-0618604999 p. 119.
^ ^a ^b Charles Harrington Elster. The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN 978-0618423156 pp. 110–111.
^ Blum, Gabriella (2010). "The Laws of War and the "Lesser Evil"". The Yale Journal of International Law. 35 (1). hdl:20.500.13051/6604. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-09.

External links

The dictionary definition of coup de grâce at Wiktionary

[AH-1] Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, eds. The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005. ISBN 978-0618604999 p. 119.

[Elster-2] Charles Harrington Elster. The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker. 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN 978-0618423156 pp. 110–111.

[3] Blum, Gabriella (2010). "The Laws of War and the "Lesser Evil"". The Yale Journal of International Law. 35 (1). hdl:20.500.13051/6604. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-09.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{short description|Death blow}}
 {{other uses|Coup de Grâce (disambiguation)}}
-{{Redirect|Finishing move|professional wrestling term|Glossary of professional wrestling terms#finisher}}
+{{Redirect|Finishing move|the professional wrestling term|Glossary of professional wrestling terms#finisher}}
+[[File:Alfred Jacob Miller - Yell of Triumph - Walters 371940151.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''Yell of Triumph'', a painting by [[Alfred Jacob Miller]] depicting Native American hunters gathering around a mortally wounded buffalo, and engaging in a victory shout before administering their "coup de grâce" to the animal]]
-{{italic title}}
+A '''coup de grâce''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|uː|_|d|ə|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|ɑː|s}}; {{IPA|fr|ku də ɡʁɑs|lang|Fr-coup de grâce-fr-Paris.oga}} 'blow of mercy') is a [[death]] blow to end the suffering of a severely [[wound]]ed person or animal.<ref name="AH"/><ref name="Elster"/> It may be a [[mercy killing]] of [[mortally wounded]] civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. The meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death.<ref name="Elster"/>
-[[File:Alfred Jacob Miller - Yell of Triumph - Walters 371940151.jpg|thumb|19th-century painting of Native American hunters gathering around a mortally wounded buffalo, and engaging in a victory shout before administering their "coup de grâce" to the animal]]
-A '''''coup de grâce''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|uː|_|d|ə|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|ɑː|s}}; {{IPA-fr|ku də ɡʁɑs|lang|Fr-coup de grâce-fr-Paris.oga}} 'blow of mercy') is a [[death]] blow to end the suffering of a severely [[wound]]ed person or animal.<ref name="AH"/><ref name="Elster"/> It may be a [[mercy killing]] of [[mortally wounded]] civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent.
+==Modern law==
-Examples of ''coup de grâce'' include shooting the heart or head (typically the [[Brain stem|back of the skull]]) of a wounded, but still living, person during an [[execution]] or by humanely killing a suffering, mortally wounded soldier, in [[war]], for whom medical aid is not available. In pre-firearms eras the wounded were finished with edged or impact weapons to include cutting throats, blows to the head, and thrusts to the heart. Other examples include the officer leading a [[firing squad]] administering a ''coup de grâce'' to the condemned with a pistol if the first hail of gunfire fails to kill the prisoner; or a ''[[kaishakunin]]'' who performs a [[Decapitation|beheading]] to quickly end a [[samurai]]'s agony after [[seppuku]].
+Today, a coup de grâce for incapacitated soldiers would be a [[war crime]]: the [[laws of war]] mandate caring for the incapacitated and prohibit mercy killing.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Laws of War and the "Lesser Evil" |journal=[[The Yale Journal of International Law]] |url=http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13051/6604 |last=Blum |first=Gabriella |date=2010 |issue=1 |volume=35 |hdl=20.500.13051/6604 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309015722if_/https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/6604/03_35YaleJIntlL1_2010_.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2022-03-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>
-The phrase may also refer to the final event that causes a figurative death:<ref name="Elster"/> "The business had been struggling for years. The sharp jump in oil prices was the coup de grâce."
 ==See also==