gibbet

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Marovaso (talk | contribs) as of 11:39, 4 December 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

Etymology

From Middle English gibet, from Old French gibet (French gibet), either from Frankish *gibb (“forked stick”) or from Latin gibbus (“hunchbacked”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

gibbet (plural gibbets)

  1. An upright post with a crosspiece used for execution and subsequent public display.
    Synonym: gallows
    • 1728, Thomas Otway, “The Atheist, or, the Second Part of the Solider's Fortune”, in The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway‎[1], volume 2, London, page 37:
      No, had every Commandment but a Gibbet belonging to it, I ſhould not have had four King's Evidences to-day ſwear impudently I was a Papiſt, when I was never at Maſs yet ſince I was born, nor indeed at any other Worſhip theſe twenty Years.
  2. The projecting arm of a crane, from which the load is suspended; the jib.
  3. A human-shaped structure made of iron bands designed to publicly display the corpse of an executed criminal.

Translations

upright post with a crosspiece used for execution and subsequent public display; a gallows

Verb

gibbet (third-person singular simple present gibbets, present participle gibbeting or gibbetting, simple past and past participle gibbeted or gibbetted)

  1. (transitive) To execute (someone), or display (a body), on a gibbet.
  2. (transitive) To expose (someone) to ridicule or scorn.

Translations

References

  1. ^ Le Robert pour tous, Dictionnaire de la langue française, Janvier 2004, p. 520

Middle English

Noun

gibbet (plural gibbets)

  1. Alternative form of gibet

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=gibbet&oldid=58108475"