abacinate
v.v. to blind someone by holding a red-hot metal plate or bowl close to their eyes. This was a cruel punishment used in ancient times.
v. to deprive of sight by placing a red-hot copper basin or plate before the eyes. An archaic term for a specific historical method of blinding as a punitive measure.
The king threatened to abacinate any prisoner who refused to speak.
Historical accounts describe how the tyrant would abacinate his political rivals to ensure they could never lead an army again.
In the grim chronicles of medieval justice, the order to abacinate a captive was viewed as a mercy compared to execution, though it left the victim permanently disabled and dependent.
From Late Latin abacinātus, perfect passive participle of abacinō; possibly formed from ab (“off”) + bacīnum (“a basin”) or bacīnus. Probably cognate with modern Italian abbacinare (“to dazzle”).
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object.