AUTO-DA-FE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Auto-da-fe

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noun

auto-da-fe n. (pl. autos-da-fé)

A judgment of the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal condemning or acquitting persons accused of religious offenses.

An execution of such sentence, by the civil power, esp. the burning of a heretic. It was usually held on Sunday, and was made a great public solemnity by impressive forms and ceremonies.

Hence: (Fig.) The public denunciation or punishment of a person who has offended the prevailing authorities.

A session of the court of Inquisition.

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Etymology of 'Auto-da-fe'

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Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Auto-da-fe" Quotes from Famous Books

... the houses to make the necessary search. We may therefore compute by millions the volumes destroyed in obedience to these royal edicts. On the 17th of April, 1758, about 40,000 books were burned at one time in Bordeaux; and it is also well known that at Beaucaire, in 1735, there was an auto-da-fe almost equal to that of Bordeaux. It was a truly sad day, in France, when the old family BIBLE must be given up; the book doubly revered and most sacred, because it was the WORD of GOD, and sacred too from the recollections ...

— Continental Monthly, Vol. I., No. IV., April, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

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... Oldenbuck, dere is de Inquisition and de Auto-da-fethey would burn me, who am but a simple philosopher, ...

— The Antiquary, Complete • Sir Walter Scott

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Words linked to "Auto-da-fe" : burning, Espana, burning at the stake, Kingdom of Spain