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EveryLingua

C2  ·  38 words

Forensic medicine

What a body, a wound and a sealed bag can prove, and where the chain of evidence breaks.

One noun on this list works in two places that never meet. In a post-mortem report der Einschuss is the point where a bullet entered the body. It is paired with der Ausschuss, where the bullet left, and the two are joined by der Schusskanal, the track between them. A pathologist always counts and locates it: ein Einschuss am Rücken, kein Ausschuss means the bullet is still inside. On a futures exchange the same word is money. Der Einschuss is the initial margin a trader has to pay in before a position is opened, and der Nachschuss is what has to be paid on top when the position moves the wrong way. So a reader who meets Der Einschuss wurde erhöht in the business pages should think of a deposit, not of ballistics — and a reader of a findings report should never think of money at all.

The words

Verb (6)

obduzierento carry out a post-mortem onVerbC2
Der Tote wurde noch am selben Tag obduziert.The post-mortem on the dead man was carried out the same day.

Regular; mostly used in the passive.

erwürgento strangle (with the hands, to death)VerbC2
Nach den Befunden wurde das Opfer mit bloßen Händen erwürgt.According to the findings the victim was strangled with bare hands.

Regular, inseparable: erwürgte, erwürgt. Plain würgen does not imply death.

erdrosselnto strangle (with a ligature, to death)VerbC2
Sie war mit einem Kabel erdrosselt worden, das man später im Keller fand.She had been strangled with a cable that was later found in the cellar.

Regular, inseparable: erdrosselte, erdrosselt.

erhängento hang (oneself or somebody, to death)VerbC2
Die Polizei ging zunächst davon aus, dass er sich erhängt hatte.The police at first assumed that he had hanged himself.

Regular and usually reflexive: sich erhängen, erhängt — unlike hängen, hing, gehangen.

asservierento take into evidenceVerbC2
Die Kleidung des Toten wurde asserviert und getrennt verpackt.The dead man’s clothing was taken into evidence and packed separately.

Regular; mostly used in the passive.

exhumierento exhumeVerbC2
Zwei Jahre nach der Beerdigung ließ die Staatsanwaltschaft den Toten exhumieren.Two years after the funeral the prosecutors had the body exhumed.

Regular. Noun: die Exhumierung.

This list belongs to Offices, law and the state — 33 lists and 1372 words that can also be practised as a whole.

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Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 38 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.