auto-da-fé

[ aw-toh-duh-fey ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, plural au·tos-da-fé.

the public declaration of the judgment passed on persons tried in the courts of the Spanish Inquisition, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed, especially the burning of condemned heretics at the stake.

auto-da-fé

/ ˌɔːtəʊdəˈfeɪ /

history a ceremony of the Spanish Inquisition including the pronouncement and execution of sentences passed on sinners or heretics
the burning to death of people condemned as heretics by the Inquisition

1715–25; < Portuguese: act of the faith

C18: from Portuguese, literally: act of the faith

It is doubtful if anything short of an auto da fe would have met their approval.

The roasting of a human victim at the auto da fe was a purely democratic institution.

The auto-da-fe was almost identical with the sermo generalis of the medieval inquisition.

Indeed, there were not wanting many heretic-hating persons who affirmed that an auto-da-fe was got up expressly for the occasion.

They had probably been looking forward to the occasion, as a Spaniard to his auto da fe, as an interesting spectacle.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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