decollation

Noun

decollation (countable and uncountable, plural decollations)

1. The act of beheading someone.
   • She was borne Jan. 29ᵗʰ, morning, scil. the day before the anniversary-day of the king's [Charles I of England] decollation.1669–1696 (date written), John Aubrey, “Deborah Aubrey”, in Andrew Clark, editor, ‘Brief Lives,’ Chiefly of Contemporaries, […], volume I (A–H), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1898...
   • His Majeſty K. Ch. the firſt; to whoſe body after his decollation in the latter end of Jan. 1648 he put his hands to open and embalm, and when that was done, he ſewed his head to his body1691, [Anthony Wood], Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of...
2. A picture of a decapitation, especially of the head of St John the Baptist on a charger.
3. The festival of the Baptist, celebrated on 29 August.