Brewer's: An Act of God

“Damnum fatale,” such as loss by lightning, shipwreck, fire, etc.; loss arising from fatality, and not from one's own fault, theft, and so on. A Devonshire jury once found a verdict— “That deceased died by the act of God, brought about by the flooded condition of the river.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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