Definition of Trial by ordeal

1. Noun. A primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence.

Exact synonyms: Ordeal
Generic synonyms: Trial

Definition of Trial by ordeal

1. Noun. (legal) : Archaic practice by which a person accused of a crime could prove his innocence by his survival of physically painful tests. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Trial By Ordeal

triakisoctahedra
triakisoctahedron
triakisoctahedrons
triakontadipole
triakontadipoles
trial
trial-and-error
trial and error
trial attorney
trial balance
trial balances
trial balloon
trial balloons
trial base
trial by fire
trial by ordeal (current term)
trial case
trial court
trial denture
trial frame
trial impression
trial judge
trial lawyer
trial lenses
trial period
trial run
trial runs
trialed
trialing

Literary usage of Trial by ordeal

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Commentaries on the Laws of England by Herbert Broom, Edward Alfred Hadley, William Wait, William Blackstone (1875)
"trial by ordeal. ,b /14 '.,, : . , i .1 . ,. • purgation, which was by the oath of the party. This was of two sorts (0), either fire-ordeal, or water-ordeal ..."

2. The Origin and Growth of the English Constitution: An Historical Treatise by Hannis Taylor (1898)
"2 After the decree Trial by or- of the Lateran Council forbidding it, trial by ordeal became obsolete,3 and the petty jury gradually took its place as a ..."

3. Christian Missions and Social Progress: A Sociological Study of Foreign Missions by James Shepard Dennis (1897)
"... or exposure to death are resorted to with a view of testing and so discovering the innocence or guilt The trial by ordeal—in of some suspected person. ..."

4. Old and New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places by Walter Thornbury, Edward Walford (1881)
"Bartholomew Fair— A Seven Days' Tournament— Duels «nd Trial by Ordeal in Smithfield— Terrible Instances of the Odium ..."

5. Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: A Record of Intimate by Edwin Herbert Gomes (1911)
"They have the trial by ordeal, and believe that the gods are sure to help the innocent and punish the guilty. I have heard of several different methods, ..."

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