pillory

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word pillory. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word pillory, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say pillory in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word pillory you have here. The definition of the word pillory will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpillory, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A pillory.

Etymology

From Middle English pilory, pillorie, from Old French pilori, pellori, which is either from Old Occitan espilori or Latin pīla (“pillar”).

Pronunciation

Noun

pillory (plural pillories)

  1. A framework on a post, with holes for the hands and head, used as a means of punishment and humiliation.
    • ”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (in Middle English), London: Roberte Crowley, , published 1550, →OCLC, folio xiii, verso:
      Maires and Maceris that meanes be betwene / The Kynge and the comon to kepe the lawes / To pũnyſhen on pyleries and pynning ſtoles / Bruſterrs and bakeſters, bochers and cokes / For theſe ar mẽ on this mold þe moſt harme worketh / To the pore people that percel mele byghe[...]
      Mayors and mace-bearers, the means are between / The king and the commons to see the law kept, / To punish on pillories and punishment stools / Brewers and bakers, butchers and cooks, / For these are this world's men that work the most harm / To the poor people that must buy piece-meal.]
  • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: , London: Nath Ponder , →OCLC, page 126:
    The other replied, That for ought they could ſee, the men were quiet, and ſober, and intended no body any harm ; and that there were many that Traded in their fair, that were more worthy to be put into the Cage, yea, and the Pillory too, then were the men that they had abuſed.

    • Translations

    framework on a post used as a means of punishment and humiliation

    Verb

    pillory (third-person singular simple present pillories, present participle pillorying, simple past and past participle pilloried)

    1. (transitive) To put in a pillory.
    2. (transitive) To subject to humiliation, scorn, ridicule or abuse.
      • 2008, Steven Daly, “Swinging into Disaster”, in Graydon Carter, editor, Vanity Fair’s Tales of Hollywood: Rebels, Reds, and Graduates and the Wild Stories Behind the Making of 13 Iconic Films, Penguin, →ISBN, page 242:
        Mike Sarne would end up making a celluloid disasterpiece that is to this day pilloried as one of the worst films ever made.
    3. (transitive) To criticize harshly.
      • 2011 September 24, Aled Williams, “Chelsea 4 - 1 Swansea”, in BBC Sport‎:
        The breakthrough came through Torres who, pilloried for his miss against Manchester United a week earlier, scored his second goal of the season.
      • 2021 September 29, Jennifer Szalai, “In ‘Rationality,’ Steven Pinker Sticks Up (Again) for Reason’s Role in Human Progress”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
        o suggest that their mere acquaintance in any way undermines Pinker’s work would be to make the kind of ad hominem fallacy that he rightfully pillories in this book.

    Translations

    Wikious
    Boobota
    Sagapedia