​MANSLAUGHTER (O. Eng., mannslaeht, from mann, man, and slaeht, act of slaying, sleán, to slay, properly to smite; cf. Ger. schlagen, Schlacht, battle), a term in English law signifying “unlawful homicide without malice aforethought” (Stephen, Digest of the Criminal Law, Art. 223). The distinction between manslaughter and murder and other forms of homicide is treated under Homicide.