Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.[1] The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and by impalement in which the body would remain "hanging". Hanging has been a common method of capital punishment since medieval times, and is the official execution method in numerous countries and regions. The first account of execution by hanging was in Homer's Odyssey.[2] In this specialised meaning of the common word hang, the past and past participle is hanged[3] instead of hung.
