Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1754
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DAMNUM FATALE, n. comb. Sc. law: “a loss arising from inevitable accident, such as no human prudence can prevent; — such, for example, as the losses occasioned by storms or tempests, lightning, floods . . . or . . . by any calamity falling within the legal description of an act of God” (Sc. 1890 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 281).Sc. 1754 J. Erskine Princ. Law Scot. (1903) ii. vi. 16 A:
If it [eviction of tenant] be due to a cause for which neither party is responsible (damnum fatale and pure accident), neither of them is bound in restitution.
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"Damnum Fatale n. comb.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/damnum_fatale>
