{ , n. [ AS. danegeld. See Dane, and Geld, n. ] (Eng. Hist.) An annual tax formerly laid on the English nation to buy off the ravages of Danish invaders, or to maintain forces to oppose them. It afterward became a permanent tax, raised by an assessment, at first of one shilling, afterward of two shillings, upon every hide of land throughout the realm. Wharton's Law Dict. Tomlins. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Bot.) A fetid European species of elder (Sambucus Ebulus); dwarf elder; wallwort; elderwort; -- called also Daneweed, Dane's weed, and Dane's-blood. [ Said to grow on spots where battles were fought against the Danes. ] [ 1913 Webster ]