The word "ordeal" has its origins in Proto-Germanic, and is cognate with German and Dutch words for "judgment" or "verdict". The word was brought into Middle English from Old English and Medieval Latin. An ordeal is a divinatory practice that has a judiciary function, and it was used as a primitive means of determining guilt or innocence by submitting the accused to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under supernatural control. There are two types of judiciary ordeals: those prescribed by a judge or judicial body as a form of trial, and those that also involve the sentencing and punishment of the accused. In modern usage, an ordeal refers to a painful or trying experience or a severe trial.
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