Coup de grâce

{{short description|Death blow}}

{{other uses|Coup de Grâce (disambiguation)}}

{{Redirect|Finishing move|the professional wrestling term|Glossary of professional wrestling terms#finisher}}

File:Alfred Jacob Miller - Yell of Triumph - Walters 371940151.jpg depicting American Indian hunters gathering around a mortally wounded buffalo, and engaging in a victory shout before administering their coup de grâce to the animal with their bows and arrows.]]

A coup de grâce ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|uː|_|d|ə|_|ˈ|ɡ|r|ɑː|s}}; {{IPA|fr|ku də ɡʁɑs|lang|Fr-coup de grâce-fr-Paris.oga}} {{lit|blow of mercy|lk=yes}}) is an act of mercy killing in which a person or animal is struck with a melee weapon or shot with a projectile to end their suffering from mortal wounds with or without their consent. Its meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death.

Today, a coup de grâce for incapacitated soldiers would be a war crime: the laws of war mandate caring for the incapacitated and prohibit mercy killing.{{Cite journal |title=The Laws of War and the "Lesser Evil" |journal=The Yale Journal of International Law |url=http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13051/6604 |last=Blum |first=Gabriella |date=2010 |issue=1 |volume=35 |hdl=20.500.13051/6604 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309015722if_/https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/6604/03_35YaleJIntlL1_2010_.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2022-03-09 |url-status=live}}