Hanging

Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature. The The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck, although it formerly also referred to crucifixion.

The past tense and past participle in English is hanged, whereas all other senses of the verb to hang use hung (although hung is used by some incorrectly).

For lack of a better term, "hanging" has also been used to describe a method of suicide in which a person applies a ligature to the neck and brings about unconsciousness and then death, by means of partial suspension or partial weight-bearing on the ligature. This method has been most often used in prisons or other institutions, where full suspension support is difficult to devise. The earliest known use in this sense was in A.D. 1300.