ordeal English · revision 1373

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔːˈdiːl/ ''(UK)''; /ɔɹˈdil/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ordal]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[inh|ang|ordāl|t=judgment, verdict]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[gem-pro|*uzdailiją|t=that which is dealt out]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to German ''Urteil'' “judgment” and Dutch ''oordeel''^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and to [[deal]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A trial by physical test (about 915).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) It was rare in Middle English, and Etymonline suggests the modern word may be a 16th-century reborrowing from Medieval Latin or French.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense of a severe trial of character or endurance dates from the 1650s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) While English kept the sense of a test, the German and Dutch cognates came to mean “judicial decision”.^(Etymonline) The prefix ''or-'' survives in English only in this word.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 915 – trial by ordeal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1385 – ''ordal''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1647 – attributive, as ''ordeal fire''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1658 – a severe test of character or endurance.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A very difficult or painful experience that tests one's character or endurance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' A form of trial in which the accused underwent a dangerous test, the result being taken as divine judgment.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deal]]

+ * [[trial by ordeal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}