Scourge
|
|
A scourge (from the Italian scoriada, ultimately from the Latin excoriare [to flay] and corium [skin]), comprises a whip or lash, especially one used for the infliction of punishment. The typical scourge (in Latin: flagellum or flagrum) has several thongs or lashes attached to a single handle, as in the cat o' nine tails. The scourge or flail, and the crook, are the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the hands of Osiris in ancient Egyptian monuments; these show the unchanging form of the instrument throughout the ages.
Adapted from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica