a yellow garment bearing a red cross, worn by penitent heretics in the Inquisition
2.
a black garment bearing flames and devils, worn by impenitent heretics at an auto-da-fé
Word origin
C16: from Spanish San Benito Saint Benedict, an ironical allusion to its likeness to the Benedictine scapular
sanbenito in American English
(ˌsænbəˈnitoʊ)
nounWord forms: pluralˌsanbeˈnitos
1.
a yellow garment resembling a scapular in shape and having a red Saint Andrew's cross in front and in back, worn by a confessed, penitent heretic in the Spanish Inquisition
2.
a similarly shaped black garment painted with flames, devils, etc., worn by a condemned heretic at an auto-da-fé
Word origin
Sp sambenito, after San Benito, Saint Benedict: from resembling a Benedictine scapular