death penalty
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death penalty
The legally prescribed killing of a person as punishment for a very serious crime.
In vielen Ländern wurde die Todesstrafe inzwischen abgeschafft.
In many countries, the death penalty has now been abolished.
This word is a clear compound made up of 'der Tod' (death) and 'die Strafe' (punishment/penalty). So it literally describes a punishment that leads to death.
Der Angeklagte wurde zur Todesstrafe verurteilt.
The defendant was sentenced to the death penalty.
In legal and political contexts, the death penalty is often used with specific verbs: one can 'fordern' (demand) it, 'verhängen' (impose it officially), 'vollstrecken' (carry it out), or 'abschaffen' (abolish it).
Mehrere Organisationen kämpfen dafür, die Todesstrafe weltweit abzuschaffen.
Several organizations are fighting to abolish the death penalty worldwide.
The construction 'unter Todesstrafe stehen' means that a particular crime can be punished by death. The subject here is the crime.
In diesem Land steht auf Drogenhandel die Todesstrafe.
In this country, drug trafficking carries the death penalty.
execution
'die Todesstrafe' and 'die Hinrichtung' both belong to the topic of serious crime and state punishment. But they do not mean exactly the same thing. 'die Todesstrafe' is the punishment in the law or in the judgment: a person is to be killed as punishment. 'die Hinrichtung' is the actual carrying out of this punishment. So you can talk about the death penalty without an execution taking place. The words are easy to confuse because both are connected with death as a punishment. In practice: 'Todesstrafe' names the punishment, while 'Hinrichtung' names the act.
Im Geschichtsunterricht diskutiert die Klasse über die Todesstrafe.
In history class, the class discusses the death penalty.
Die geplante Hinrichtung wurde nach neuen Beweisen gestoppt.
The planned execution was stopped after new evidence emerged.