Dictionary

abacination en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˌbæsɪˈneɪʃən/
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Etymology

Etymology tree English abacinate Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ion English abacination From abacinate + -ion.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of abacinating, of blinding with the light from hot metal
   • That blind general lost his sight by the process of abacination. 1902, James Meeker Ludlow, Incentives for Life, Personal and Public, page 144:
   • Her warmth and radiance had blinded him, a self-inflicted abacination. 1972, Trevanian (pseud.), The Eiger Sanction, Ballantine, published 1984, →ISBN, page 105:
   • 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. 1982, Gene Wolfe, chapter XXIV, in The Sword of the Lictor (The Book of the New Sun; 3), New York: Timescape, →ISBN, page 179:

Forms