cangue

/ kæŋ /

noun

(formerly in China) a large wooden collar worn by petty criminals as a punishment

Origin of cangue¹

C18: from French, from Portuguese canga yoke

In China the crime is set forth on a board hung on the neck of the criminal, called the cangue.

A man who had been condemned to wear the cangue, or wooden collar, was seen by some of his friends.

The ordinary punishment for minor offences is the cangue and the bastinado.

The cangue is a huge wooden collar which is fastened about the neck.

The cangue is a three-inch board about three feet square, with a hole in the centre for the neck.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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