abacinate

English

Etymology

From Late Latin abacinātus, perfect passive participle of abacinō; possibly formed from ab (“off”) + bacīnum (“a basin”) or bacīnus. Probably cognate with modern Italian abbacinare (“to dazzle”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /æbˈæsɪneɪt/

Verb

abacinate (third-person singular simple present abacinates, present participle abacinating, simple past and past participle abacinated)

1. (transitive, rare) To blind by holding a red-hot metal rod or plate before the eyes
   • 1905, James M. Ludlow, Sir Raoul, page 233:

     "You young scapegrace," said Dandolo, "I will myself abacinate you — in the Venetian way." "How's that?" "Blind your eyes with the glare, not of hot irons, but of new ducats. Count your pile."

   • 1945, Robert Hardy Andrews, Burning Gold‎^[1], page 196:

     Their straining eyes abacinated by the cup of terror, their throats stopped, their powers dead within them, they hung breathless, motionless.

   • 1986, Jeff Hanneman (lyrics and music), “Angel of Death”, in Reign in Blood, performed by Slayer:

     Abacinate, eyes that bleed, praying for the end of your wide awake nightmare.

   • 1999, Srinivas Aravamudan, Tropicopolitans, →ISBN, page 220:

     This chiasmic image of the subject's imperviousness suggests a sensory deprivation beyond sublimity, like that of abacinated anti-epistemology.

Derived terms

• abacination

Translations

to blind by holding a red-hot metal rod or plate before the eyes

• Portuguese: abacinar (pt)

Latin

Verb

abacināte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of abacinō