Etymology

frankpledge

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Today it means: A form of collective suretyship and punishment under English law among the members of a tithing. Full definition →

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The story

From Anglo-Latin franciplegium, a Latinization of Anglo-Norman frauncplege ("free pledge"), a mistranslation of Old English friðborh ("pledge of peace"), which had the corrupted form friborh, which led to the Modern English term friborg, as if it were *freoborh ("free pledge"). See also friborg, which refers to the predecessor of frankpledge.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.