scourge
verbEtymology From Middle English scourgen (“to whip, scourge; to afflict; to punish”), and then either: * from scourge (noun) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs); or * from Anglo-Norman escorger, and Old French escorgier (“to whip, to scourge”), which are either: ** from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge (noun), etc., or Old French scurge, escourge (noun), etc. + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); or ** from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiō, from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”); or ** directly from Late Latin excoriāre. See further at etymology 1.
1
To strike (a person, an animal, etc.) with a scourge (noun etymology 1 sense 1) or whip; to flog, to whip.
- Hvng be yͤ heauens vvith black, yield day to night; / Comets importing change of Times and States, / Brandiſh your cryſtall Treſſes in the Skie, / And vvith them ſcourge the bad reuolting Stars, / That haue conſented vnto Henries Death: / King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, / England ne're loſt a King of ſo much vvorth.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 96, column 1:
- Doe vve not vpon every good-friday, in ſundrie places, ſee a great number of men and vvomen, ſcourge and beate themſelves ſo long till they bruſe and teare their fleſh, even to the bones? I have often ſeene it my ſelfe, and that vvithout enchantment.1603, Michel de Montaigne, “That the Taste of Goods or Evilles doth Greatly Depend on the Opinion We Have of Them”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 133:
4 more examples
- […] I cauſed him to be brought to the Geers, vvith a Halter about his Neck, and be ſoundly vvhipp'd; and indeed our People did ſcourge him ſeverely from Head to Foot; […]1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part I”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 95:
- For the waves never menace heaven until / Scourged by the wind's invisible tyrannya. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Charles the First. A Fragment.”, in William Michael Rossetti, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: […], revised edition, volume II, London: E[dward] Moxon, Son, & Co., […], published 1870, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 383:
- If they vote, they do not send men to Congress on errands of humanity; but while their brothers and sisters are being scourged and hung for loving liberty, while—I might here insert all that slavery implies and is,—it is the mismanagement of wood and iron and stone and gold which concerns them.1854 July 4 (date delivered), Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “[Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers.] Slavery in Massachusetts.”, in A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1866, →OCLC, pages 108–109:
- "Nay, nay, let him pass," said the young Chian, Antagoras; "he will get scourged if he is too late. Perhaps, like the Persians, Pausanias wears false hair, and wishes the slave to dress it in honour of us."a. 1874 (date written), Lord Lytton [i.e., Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of] Lytton, editor, Pausanias the Spartan: An Unfinished Historical Romance […], volume I, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons […], published 1876, →OCLC, book II, page 137:
2
To drive, or force (a person, an animal, etc.) to move, with or as if with a scourge or whip.
- So judge thou ſtill, preſumptuous, till the wrauth, / Which thou incurr'ſt by flying, meet thy flight / Seavenfold, and ſcourge that wiſdom back to Hell, / Which taught thee yet no better, that no pain / Can equal anger infinite provok't.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 913–917:
- Thou knowest not, and mayst thou never know, / How bitter is the tear that firy shame / Scourges and tortures from the soldier's eye.1812, [Walter Savage Landor], Count Julian: A Tragedy, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], [b]y James Moyes, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 96:
3
Figuratively To punish (a person, an animal, etc.); to chastise.
- For a Patient and Thankful Heart in Sickness. Whom thou lovest, O Lord, him dost thou chasten, yea, every son that thou receivest, thou scourgest, and in so doing thou offerest thyself unto him, as a father unto his son. For what son is whom the father chasteneth not?1553, “The Primer: Or Book of Private Prayer, Needful to be Used of All Christians. […] [Sundry Godly Prayers for Divers Purposes.]”, in Joseph Ketley, editor, The Two Liturgies, A.D. 1549, and A.D. 1552: With Other Documents Set Forth by Authority in the Reign of King Edward VI. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] University Press, published 1844, →OCLC, page 474:
- He cals vs rebels, traitors, and vvill ſcourge / VVith haughtie armes this hatefull name in vs.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], signature [I4], recto:
4 more examples
- You ſhall with rods of iron ſcourge theſe treaſons.1607, Thomas Dekker, “The Whore of Babylon. […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume II, London: John Pearson […], published 1873, →OCLC, page 256:
- [T]he purgatory is before the indulgence, the correction is before mercy. He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth; first he scourges him, and then he receives him; […] as long as his love lasts, he corrects us, and as long as he corrects us, he loves us.1626 May 31 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “Sermon LXXVII. Preached at St. Paul’s, May 21, 1626.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume III, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 413:
- Look at thy followers and clients: are they not cutting the throats of humble men by way of vengeance for the crime of a great one? But that is the way one patrician always scourges the insolence of another.1835, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Brawl”, in Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Time, the Place, and the Men), page 42:
- Upon how grievous iniquities consumed I myself, pursuing a sacrilegious curiosity, that having forsaken Thee, it might bring me to the treacherous abyss, and the beguiling service of devils, to whom I sacrific ed my evil actions, and in all these things thou didst scourge me! I dared even, while Thy solemnities were celebrated within the walls of Thy Church, to desire, and to compass a business, deserving death for its fruits, for which Thou scourgedst me with grievous punishments, […]1840, S[aint] Augustine [i.e., Augustine of Hippo], “The Third Book”, in E[dward] B[ouverie] Pusey, transl., The Confessions of S. Augustine. […] (Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, […]; I), Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker; London: J. G. F. and J. Rivington, →OCLC, paragraph [III].5, page 31:
4
Figuratively To cause (someone or something) persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble; to afflict, to torment.
- And that the Remonſtrant cannot vvaſh his hands of all the cruelties exercis'd by the Prelats, is paſt doubting. They ſcourg'd the Confeſſors of the Goſpel, and he held the Scourgers garments.1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 185:
- Thou hast, thyself, broken all laws, dissolved every tie; thou bruisest, scourgest, robbest this thy noble kingdom of England, and shall we not have at least the poor liberty to rail.1844 April 13, “The Last Days of the Plantagenets. Henry III.—Part II.”, in A[lexander] D. Paterson, editor, The Anglo American, volume 2, number 25, New York, N.Y.: E. L. Garvin & Co., →OCLC, pages 594–595:
5
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle Scotland, Figuratively Of a crop or a farmer: to deplete the fertility of (land or soil).
- Derived terms
- scourged, scourger, scourging, scourgingly