Guillotine Law and Legal Definition
Guillotine is an instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation. It is a machine designed to inflict capital punishment by dropping a blade onto the neck, thus quickly severing of the head from the body. Guillotine was developed in France, to "humanely" inflict the death penalty through instant beheading by the dropping of a weighted and sharp metal blade onto the restrained neck of a convict. The purpose was to make it as painless as possible. This is not in practice now.