doomsman
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A judge; an umpire.
Examples
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As an aside: the original meaning of "doom" was "law or judgment" and a judge in those Anglo-Saxon days was called a doomsman.
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"Then shalt thou die," said Sapricius; and he bade the doomsman take her to the place of execution and strike off her head.
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Ivan acts merely as the instinctive doomsman of Nature or of God, and the old village Pope, who, as the veil of life grows thin, is feeling after the law above human law, justifies the wielder of the axe, which has been no instrument of vengeance but simply an exponent of the wholesome vitality of earth.
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Under no circumstances could the poor wretch tell the tale or identify either the prisoners or their doomsman.
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Guinevere, when she meets her lover, rescuer, and doomsman, is no longer a girl, and Lancelot is almost a boy.
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800
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Away to the Tower Hill! and let the priest patter an ave while the doomsman knots the rope.
Note
The word 'doomsman' is a compound of 'doom' (in the sense of 'law') and 'man'.
