The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sanbenito \San`be*ni"to\, n. [Sp. & Pg. sambenito, contr. from L. saccus sack + benedictus blessed.]
Anciently, a sackcloth coat worn by penitents on being reconciled to the church.
A garnment or cap, or sometimes both, painted with flames, figures, etc., and worn by persons who had been examined by the Inquisition and were brought forth for punishment at the auto-da-f['e].
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context historical English) A sackcloth coat worn by penitents on being reconciled to the church. 2 (context historical English) A garment or cap, or sometimes both, painted with flames, figures, etc., and worn by those who had been examined by the Inquisition and were brought forth for the auto da fe.
Wikipedia
Sanbenito ( Spanish: sambenito;''Swimming the Christian Atlantic:
Judeoconversos, Afroiberians and Amerindians in the Seventeenth Century'', Jonathan Schorsch, BRILL, 2009, pag 99 Catalan: gramalleta, sambenet) was a penitential garment that was used especially during the Spanish Inquisition. It was similar to a scapular, either yellow with red St. Andrew's crosses for penitent heretics or black and decorated with friars, dragons and devils for impenitent heretics to wear at an auto da fé (meaning "act of faith").
Usage examples of "sanbenito".
I WAS about to answer her question, a couple strolled by our alcove, the man robed in a sanbenito, the woman dressed as a midinette.
Others would be released, but sentenced to wear the sanbenito forever as a mark of their crimes.
They wore not only sanbenitos but also pasteboard caps, all of which were painted with flames and devils.