Etymologically
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ordeal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːˈdiːl/ (UK); /ɔɹˈdil/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ordal,[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English ordāl (“judgment, verdict”),[2][3][6][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *uzdailiją (“that which is dealt out”).[3][6] It is related to German Urteil “judgment” and Dutch oordeel[3][6][4][5] and to deal.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A trial by physical test (about 915).[7][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In trial by ordeal, an accused person was subjected to a dangerous test, such as walking over red-hot ploughshares, and the outcome was taken as the judgment of God.[6][7][5] It was rare in Middle English, and Etymonline suggests the modern word may be a 16th-century reborrowing from Medieval Latin or French.[6] The figurative sense of a severe trial of character or endurance dates from the 1650s.[6][7] While English kept the sense of a test, the German and Dutch cognates came to mean “judicial decision”.[6] The prefix or- survives in English only in this word.[6]

Timeline

  • about 915 – trial by ordeal.[7][3]
  • about 1385 – ordal.[3]
  • 1647 – attributive, as ordeal fire.[7]
  • 1658 – a severe test of character or endurance.[7][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A very difficult or painful experience that tests one's character or endurance.
  2. (history) A form of trial in which the accused underwent a dangerous test, the result being taken as divine judgment.
  • deal
  • trial by ordeal

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press