cilice

cilice

English

Etymology

From French cilice, from Latin cilicium (“clothing made of goatskin”), from Cilicia where it originates from.

Noun

cilice (plural cilices)

1. A garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair worn close to the skin used by members of various Christian traditions as a self-imposed means of penance (repentance) and mortification of the flesh.

   Synonyms: hairshirt, sackcloth

   • 1824, Robert Southey, “View of the Papal System”, in The Book of the Church. […], volume I, London: John Murray, […], OCLC 6337600, pages 305–306:

     It was deemed meritorious to disfigure the body by neglect and filth, to extenuate it by fasting and watchfulness, to lacerate it with stripes, and to fret the wounds with cilices of horsehair.

2. (chiefly in Opus Dei) A leather strap studded with metallic barbs that cut into flesh as a constant reminder of Christ's suffering.

Derived terms

• chain cilice
• hairshirt cilice

Translations

garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair

Bulgarian: власеница (vlasenica) Catalan: cilici (ca) m German: Cilicium n, Büßerhemd n, Büsserhemd n (Switzerland and Liechtenstein), härenes Hemd n Ido: cilico (io) Polish: włosienica f Russian: власяни́ца (ru) f (vlasjaníca), вре́тище (ru) n (vrétišče)

Anagrams

• icicle

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French

un cilice

Etymology

From Latin cilicium (“clothing made of goatskin”), from Cilicia where it originates from.

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Noun

cilice m (plural cilices)

1. a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair worn close to the skin used by members of various Christian traditions as a self-imposed means of repentance and mortification of the flesh; hairshirt

Further reading

• “cilice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.