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flagellation

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flag⋅el⋅la⋅tion

[flaj-uh-ley-shuhn]
–noun
1. the act or process of flagellating.
2. a masochistic or sadistic act in which the participants receive erotic stimulation from whipping or being whipped.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < LL flagellātiōn-, s. of flagellātiō. See flagellate, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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flag·el·la·tion   (flāj'ə-lā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act or practice of flagellating.

  2. Biology The flagellar arrangement on an organism.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

flagellation 
1426, from L. flagellationem (nom. flagellatio) "a scourging," from flagellare, from flagellum "whip," dim. of flagrum "whip, scourge." Flagellate is 1623, from L. flagellatus, pp. of flagellare.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1flag·el·la·tion
Pronunciation: "flaj-&-'lA-sh&n
Function: noun
: the practice of a flagellant

Main Entry: 2flagellation
Function: noun
: the formation or arrangement of flagella
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

flagellation flag·el·la·tion (flāj'ə-lā'shən)
n.

  1. Whipping oneself or another as a means of arousing or heightening sexual feeling.

  2. The flagellar arrangement on an organism.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

flagellation

in religion, the disciplinary or devotional practice of beating with whips. Although it has been understood in many ways-as a driving out of evil spirits, as purification, as a form of sadism, and as an incorporation of the animal power residing in the whip-none of these characterizations encompasses the whole range of the custom. In antiquity and among prehistoric cultures, ceremonial whippings were performed in rites of initiation, purification, and fertility, which often included other forms of physical suffering. Floggings and mutilations were sometimes self-inflicted. Beatings inflicted by masked impersonators of gods or ancestors figured in many Native American initiations. In the ancient Mediterranean, ritual floggings were practiced by the Spartans, and Roman heretics were whipped with thongs of oxtail, leather, or parchment strips, some being weighted with lead

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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