Table of Contents
Definition of Ordeal
(noun) A painful or dangerous method of trial controlled by supernatural forces that proves an individual’s guilt or innocence through divine judgement in which survival or degree of injury typically indicates innocence.
Example of Ordeal
- Bisha’a, used by some Bedouin tribes in Africa, is a ritual ordeal used to determine whether a person has lied. The accused has to lick a hot metal object three times, and if their tongue is burnt, that means they have lied.
Ordeal Pronunciation
Syllabification: or·deal
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /or-dEEl/
- British English – /aw-dEEl/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ɔrˈdil/
- British English – /ɔːˈdiːl/
Usage Notes
- Plural: ordeals
- Also called trial by ordeal.
Additional Information
- Crime and Law Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Politics and Policy Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “ordeal” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- coercion
- contest
- go-between
- leadership
- legitimacy
- infralegal-dispute
- policy
- power
- self-redress
- support
Cite the Definition of Ordeal
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “ordeal.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/ordeal/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
ordeal. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/ordeal/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “ordeal.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/ordeal/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“ordeal.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/ordeal/>.