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Definition: ordeal from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(bef. 12c) 1 : a primitive means used to determine guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control 〈⁓ by fire〉 2 : a severe trial or experience


ordeal

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to divine authority to decide the guilt or innocence of one accused of a crime or to choose between disputants. This custom was known to ancient peoples as well as to those of fairly advanced material culture. Until recent times the ordeal was practiced in many parts of Asia and Africa. In the early Middle Ages it was widely used to settle legal questions in Western Europe. In England it was a regular form of trial and persisted until trial by jury became common. Forms of the ordeal varied with the locality and with the nature of the crime. The ordeal by fire—walking through fire or putting the hand into a flame—was common, and there were other fiery ordeals, such as walking on hot plowshares or plunging the hand into molten metal. Usually it was believed that if the accused were innocent God would spare him. Commonly…
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Full text Article ordeal

From Word Origins
The ‘meting out of judgement’ is the etymological notion immediately underlying ordeal , but at a more primitive level still than that it denotes simply ‘distribution, giving out shares’. It comes ultimately from prehistoric Germanic *uzdailjan ‘share out’, a compound verb formed from *uz - ‘out’ …
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Full text Article Ordeal

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The ancient Anglo-Saxon and Germanic practice of referring disputed questions of criminality to supernatural decision by subjecting the accused to physical trials in the belief that God would defend the right, even by miracle if needful. Hence, figuratively, an experience testing endurance, …
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Full text Article ordeal

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to divine authority to decide the guilt or innocence of one accused of a crime or to choose between disputants. This custom was…
| 462 words
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Full text Article ordeal

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
In customary law, a test of guilt or innocence in which the accused undergoes dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control. Ordeals by fire or water are the most common. Burns suffered while passing through fire (as in Hindu custom) or rejection (i.e., being buoyed up) by…
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Full text Article trial by ordeal.

From The Oxford Companion to British History
was used to decide the guilt or innocence of a suspected criminal by invoking divine justice. There were several forms of ordeal in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. In one the accused held a red hot iron or put his hand in a flame. The hand was then bound up and examined after several days. If the…
| 188 words
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Full text Article ordeal, trial by

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In tribal societies and in Europe in medieval times, a method of testing the guilt of an accused person based on the belief in heaven's protection of the innocent. Examples of such ordeals include walking barefoot over heated iron, dipping the hand into boiling water, and swallowing consecrated…
| 103 words
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Full text Article ordeal

From The Macquarie Dictionary
| 77 words
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Full text Article ordeal

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
| 83 words
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Full text Article ordeal

From The Chambers Dictionary
| 69 words
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Full text Article Damiens’ ordeal

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
| 94 words
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