Definition of Oreal
Ordeal, a test by fire, water, poison, wager of battle, or the like,
of the innocence or guilt of persons in appeal thereby to the judgment of
God in default of other evidence, on the superstitious belief that by
means of it God would interfere to acquit the innocent and condemn the
guilty, a test very often had recourse to among savage or half-civilised
nations.
- Wikipedia
Or"de*al (ôr"d&esl;*al),
n. [AS. ordāl, ord&aemacr;l, a
judgment; akin to D. oordeel, G. urteil,
urtheil; orig., what is dealt out, the prefix or- being
akin to ā- compounded with verbs, G. er-, ur-
, Goth. us-, orig. meaning, out. See Deal,
v. & n., and cf. Arise,
Ort.] 1. An ancient form of test to
determine guilt or innocence, by appealing to a supernatural
decision, -- once common in Europe, and still practiced in the East
and by savage tribes.
&fist; In England ordeal by fire and ordeal by water
were used, the former confined to persons of rank, the latter to the
common people. The ordeal by fire was performed, either by handling
red-hot iron, or by walking barefoot and blindfold over red-hot
plowshares, laid at unequal distances. If the person escaped unhurt,
he was adjudged innocent; otherwise he was condemned as guilty. The
ordeal by water was performed, either by plunging the bare arm to the
elbow in boiling water, an escape from injury being taken as proof of
innocence, or by casting the accused person, bound hand and foot,
into a river or pond, when if he floated it was an evidence of guilt,
but if he sunk he was acquitted. It is probable that the proverbial
phrase, to go through fire and water, denoting severe trial or
danger, is derived from the ordeal. See Wager of battle, under
Wager.
2. Any severe trial, or test; a painful
experience.
Ordeal bean. (Bot.) See Calabar
bean, under Calabar. -- Ordeal root
(Bot.) the root of a species of Strychnos growing
in West Africa, used, like the ordeal bean, in trials for
witchcraft. -- Ordeal tree (Bot.),
a poisonous tree of Madagascar (Tanghinia, or Cerbera,
venenata). Persons suspected of crime are forced to eat the seeds
of the plumlike fruit, and criminals are put to death by being
pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.
Or"de*al, a. Of or pertaining to
trial by ordeal.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
- a painful or trying experience
- a trial in which the accused was subjected to a dangerous test (such as ducking in water), divine authority deciding the guilt of the accused
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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