sanbenitos

Variant of sanbenito

sanbenito definition

san·be·nito (san′bə nēt′ō)

noun pl. sanbenitos -·tos

  1. a yellow garment resembling a scapular in shape and having a red Saint Andrew's cross in front and in back, worn by a confessed, penitent heretic in the Spanish Inquisition
  2. a similarly shaped black garment painted with flames, devils, etc., worn by a condemned heretic at an auto-da-fé

Etymology: Sp sambenito, after San Benito, Saint Benedict: from resembling a Benedictine scapular

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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