from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
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}.
[1913 Webster]
2. Any severe trial, or test; a painful experience.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]