flagellant

American  

[flaj-uh-luhnt, fluh-jel-uhnt] / ˈflædʒ ə lənt, fləˈdʒɛl ənt /

noun

1. a person who flagellates or scourges their own body for religious discipline.

2. a person who derives sexual pleasure from whipping or being whipped by another person.

3. (often initial capital letter) one of a medieval European sect of fanatics who practiced scourging in public.

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adjective

1. flagellating.

2. severely criticizing.

   a flagellant attack on the opposition party.

flagellant British  

/ ˈflædʒɪlənt, ˈflædʒɪˌleɪtə, fləˈdʒɛlənt /

noun

1. a person who whips himself or others either as part of a religious penance or for sexual gratification

2. (often capital) (in medieval Europe) a member of a religious sect who whipped themselves in public

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Other Word Forms

• flagellantism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of flagellant

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin flagellant- (stem of flagellāns ) “whipping,” present participle of flagellāre; see flagellum, -ant

Example Sentences

Her mother was just like a Flagellant and she drank coffee, and the chief thing, to be sure, they were clean in their ways.

From The Chorus Girl and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance

First Flagellant Campaign in Perugia, § 107, 1. 1260-1282.

From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by Kurtz, J. H.

If I was a Flagellant now, I would don hairshirt and up flail.

From For the Term of His Natural Life by Clarke, Marcus Andrew Hislop

A strange Flagellant Fresh come to Wartburg craves a word with thee.

From The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 2 Jewish poems: Translations by Lazarus, Emma

"I shall defend her and protect her with every drop of blood in my body!" replied the Flagellant.

From The Ragged Edge by MacGrath, Harold