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impale

(ĭm-pāl')

also empale (ĕm-)

tr.v., -paled also -paled, -pal·ing -pal·ing, -pales -pales.

1. To pierce with a sharp stake or point.
2. To torture or kill by impaling.
To render helpless as if by impaling.

[Medieval Latin impālāre : Latin in-, in; see in–² + Latin pālus, stake.]

impalement im·pale'ment n.
impaler im·pal'er n.

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Devil's Dictionary: impale

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

v.t.

In popular usage to pierce with any weapon which remains fixed in the wound. This, however, is inaccurate; to imaple is, properly, to put to death by thrusting an upright sharp stake into the body, the victim being left in a sitting position. This was a common mode of punishment among many of the nations of antiquity, and is still in high favor in China and other parts of Asia. Down to the beginning of the fifteenth century it was widely employed in "churching" heretics and schismatics. Wolecraft calls it the "stoole of repentynge," and among the common people it was jocularly known as "riding the one legged horse." Ludwig Salzmann informs us that in Thibet impalement is considered the most appropriate punishment for crimes against religion; and although in China it is sometimes awarded for secular offences, it is most frequently adjudged in cases of sacrilege. To the person in actual experience of impalement it must be a matter of minor importance by what kind of civil or religious dissent he was made acquainted with its discomforts; but doubtless he would feel a certain satisfaction if able to contemplate himself in the character of a weather-cock on the spire of the True Church.

WordNet: impale

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: pierce with a sharp stake or point
Synonyms: transfix, empale, spike

Meaning #2: kill by piercing with a spear or sharp pole
Synonym: stake

Wikipedia: impalement

Woodblock print of Vlad III Dracula attending a mass impalement.

Impalement is a method act of torture and execution whereby a person is pierced with a long stake. The penetration can be through the sides, from the rectum, or through the mouth. The stake would usually be planted in the ground, leaving the impaled person hanging to die.

In some forms of impalement, the stake would be inserted so as to avoid immediate death, and would function as a plug to prevent blood loss — thus extending the person's agony for as many as three days^{[citation needed]}. One way to achieve this gradual death is to insert the stake through the rectum deep into the body of the victim until it left the body near the right shoulder, thus avoiding damaging the heart^{[citation needed]}.

Impalement of Judeans in a Neo-Assyrian relief.

The term impalement is also used to describe deep stabbing wounds that occur in accidents where objects are driven through the body, for example by falling onto a spike, or being driven onto one in an automobile accident. Removing these objects presents a severe surgical challenge.

History

The use of impalement as a form of execution in civilizations of the Ancient Near East, such as Ancient Egypt [2], Assyria, Ancient Persia and Ancient India, is evidenced by carvings and statues from the ancient Near East. According to Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (3.159), Darius I impaled 3,000 Babylonians when he took Babylon: their execution is also recorded in the Behistun inscription. In ancient Rome, the term "crucifixion" could also refer to impalement. Ancient authors also report the use of "crucifixion" (which may have meant impalement as well) in Carthage, where it was used for extreme cases of treachery and failure on the battlefield, usually combined with other forms of torture.

Impalement was frequently practiced in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Vlad III Dracula, who learned the method of killing by impalement while staying in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, as a prisoner, and Ivan the Terrible have passed into legend as major users of the method.

From the 14th to 18th century, impalement was a traditional method of execution for high treason in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Impalement was used in Sweden during the 17th century, particularly as a death penalty for members of the resistance in the former Danish province Terra Scania (the so called "Snapphane)", where the stake was inserted between the spine and the skin of the victim. In that way, it could take four to five days before the victim died.

The Zulu of South Africa used impalement as a form of punishment for soldiers who had failed in the execution of their duty, or who had exhibited cowardice.^[1]

The Araucanian chief Caupolican suffered this death as a prisoner during the Spanish colonization of Chile. The method used was to make him sit on a stake while his wife was forced to watch.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ [1] The South African Military History Society Military History Journal Vol 4 No 4

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911 Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Impalement". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

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