auto-da-fé

American  

[aw-toh-duh-fay] / ˌɔ toʊ dəˈfeɪ /

noun

• autos-da-fé
  plural

1. 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 British  

/ ˌɔːtəʊdəˈfeɪ /

noun

1. history a ceremony of the Spanish Inquisition including the pronouncement and execution of sentences passed on sinners or heretics

2. the burning to death of people condemned as heretics by the Inquisition

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• autos-da-fé
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of auto-da-fé

1715–25; < Portuguese: act of the faith

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

auto-da-fé autos-da-fé

An acrobatic jester figure, his face painted skull-white, restores to the auto-da-fé scene some of its intended spookiness.

From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2022

When orchestra rehearsals started Feb. 14, Nézet-Séguin shortened a 16th note here, lengthened an eighth note there as he sang the vocals — including the Celestial Voice ending the auto-da-fé.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2022

After characterizing it as a 21st-century auto-da-fé on Twitter, op-ed writer Bari Weiss first argued it was evidence of an out of control PC culture on campus.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2018

Or an auto-da-fé that destroyed the evidence of wifely heresy?

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 16, 2015

This was the first auto-da-fé on Haytian soil.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 56, June, 1862 by Various

Seven out of eighteen autos-da-fé presided over by the famous Inquisitor, Bernard Gui, decreed no severer penalty than imprisonment.

From The Inquisition A Critical and Historical Study of the Coercive Power of the Church by Bertrand L. (Bertrand Louis) Conway

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---