abacination

abacination

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    From abacinate + -ion.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /əˌbæsɪˈneɪʃən/
    • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -eɪʃən

    Noun

    abacination (countable and uncountable, plural abacinations)

    1. The act of abacinating, of blinding with the light from hot metal
      • 1902, James Meeker Ludlow, Incentives for Life, Personal and Public[1], page 144:
        That blind general lost his sight by the process of abacination.
      • 1972, Trevanian (pseud.), The Eiger Sanction[2], Ballantine, published 1984, →ISBN, page 105:
        Her warmth and radiance had blinded him, a self-inflicted abacination.
      • 1982, Gene Wolfe, chapter XXIV, in The Sword of the Lictor (The Book of the New Sun; 3), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 179:
        I, who had seen so many brandings and abacinations, and had even used the iron myself (among the billion things I recall perfectly is the flesh of Morwenna's cheeks blistering), could scarcely force myself to go and look at him.