What is "ordeal"

Ordeal \Or"de*al\, a. Of or pertaining to trial by ordeal.

Ordeal \Or"de*al\ ([^o]r"d[-e]*al), n. [AS. ord[=a]l, ord[=ae]l, a judgment; akin to D. oordeel, G. urteil, urtheil; orig., what is dealt out, the prefix or- being akin to [=a]- compounded with verbs, G. er-, ur-, Goth. us-, orig. meaning, out. See Deal, v. & n., and cf. Arise, Ort.]

1. An ancient form of test to determine guilt or innocence, by appealing to a supernatural decision, -- once common in Europe, and still practiced in the East and by savage tribes.

   Note: In England ordeal by fire and ordeal by water were used, the former confined to persons of rank, the latter to the common people. The ordeal by fire was performed, either by handling red-hot iron, or by walking barefoot and blindfold over red-hot plowshares, laid at unequal distances. If the person escaped unhurt, he was adjudged innocent; otherwise he was condemned as guilty. The ordeal by water was performed, either by plunging the bare arm to the elbow in boiling water, an escape from injury being taken as proof of innocence, or by casting the accused person, bound hand and foot, into a river or pond, when if he floated it was an evidence of guilt, but if he sunk he was acquitted. It is probable that the proverbial phrase, to go through fire and water, denoting severe trial or danger, is derived from the ordeal. See Wager of battle, under Wager.

2. Any severe trial, or test; a painful experience.

   Ordeal bean. (Bot.) See Calabar bean, under Calabar.

   Ordeal root (Bot.) the root of a species of Strychnos growing in West Africa, used, like the ordeal bean, in trials for witchcraft.

   Ordeal tree (Bot.), a poisonous tree of Madagascar ( Tanghinia venenata syn. Cerbera venenata). Persons suspected of crime are forced to eat the seeds of the plumlike fruit, and criminals are put to death by being pricked with a lance dipped in the juice of the seeds.

Old English ordel, ordal, "trial by physical test," literally "judgment, verdict," from Proto-Germanic noun *uz-dailjam (cognates: Old Saxon urdeli, Old Frisian urdel, Dutch oordeel, German urteil "judgment"), literally "that which is dealt out" (by the gods), from *uzdailijan "share out," related to Old English adælan "to deal out" (see deal (n.1)). Curiously absent in Middle English, and perhaps reborrowed 16c. from Medieval Latin or Middle French, which got it from Germanic.\n

\nThe notion is of the kind of arduous physical test (such as walking blindfolded and barefoot between red-hot plowshares) that was believed to determine a person's guilt or innocence by immediate judgment of the deity, an ancient Teutonic mode of trial. English retains a more exact sense of the word; its cognates in German, etc., have been generalized.\n

\nMetaphoric extension to "anything which tests character or endurance" is attested from 1650s. The prefix or- survives in English only in this word, but was common in Old English and other Germanic languages (Gothic ur-, Old Norse or-, etc.) and originally was an adverb and preposition meaning "out."

n. A painful or trying experience.

1. n. a severe or trying experience

2. a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control; escape was usually taken as a sign of innocence [syn: trial by ordeal]

Ordeal means suffering a difficulty, and may refer to:

• Trial by ordeal, a religious-judicial practice to determine "the will of God"
• Ordeal (autobiography), a 1980 autobiography of Linda Lovelace
• Ordeal (horse) (born 1957), New Zealand Standardbred racemare
• Ordeal (Skepticism album)
• Ordeal (level of OA membership), the first degree of membership in the Order of the Arrow, an organization within the Boy Scouts of America
• The American title of What Happened to the Corbetts, a 1939 novel by Nevil Shute

Ordeal is a 1980 autobiography by the former pornographic actress Linda Lovelace (real name Linda Boreman), star of the film Deep Throat, a seminal 1972 film at the forefront of the Golden Age of Porn. In the autobiography, Lovelace recounts that she was raped during her career in the porn industry. As such, Ordeal became influential within the feminist anti-pornography movement.

Ordeal was a New Zealand Standardbred racemare. A notable achievement was winning the Rowe Cup, the top event in New Zealand for trotting horses. Ordeal was considered the top trotter in New Zealand in the 1960s, but had moderate success in the United States. She was the first ever trotter to break the 2:00 mile barrier in New Zealand.

Ordeal won the following major races:

• 1960 Dominion Handicap (Handicap of 12 yards)
• 1961 Rowe Cup

She was an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Trotting Hall of Fame with the immortals Caduceus, Cardigan Bay, Harold Logan, Highland Fling and Johnny Globe.

Ordeal is the fifth album by the Finnish funeral doom band Skepticism.