noun pl. sanbenitos
- 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
- a similarly shaped black garment painted with flames, devils, etc., worn by a condemned heretic at an auto-da-fé
Origin:
Sp sambenito, after San Benito, Saint Benedict: from resembling a Benedictine scapular