cilice

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cilice

/ˈsɪlɪs/

Where it comes from

From French cilice, from Latin cilicium (“clothing made of goatskin”), from Cilicia where it originates from.

noun cilices

A garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair worn close to the skin used by members of various Christian traditions as a self-imposed means of penance (repentance) and mortification of the flesh. It was deemed meritorious to disfigure the body by neglect and filth, to extenuate it by fasting and watchfulness, to lacerate it with stripes, and to fret the wounds with cilices of horsehair.
Similar: hairshirt, sackcloth
in Opus Dei A leather strap studded with metallic barbs that cut into flesh as a constant reminder of Christ's suffering. All she had done was give Teena a cilice, a barbed metal chain she was to tie around her thigh for two hours every day, and a discipline, a rope whip with knotted ends she was to use on her back when she prayed the Hail Mary.

Translations

Every language

noun garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair

中文	粗衣 cūyī, 褐衣 hèyī
Deutsch	Cilicium, Büßerhemd, härenes Hemd
Русский	власяни́ца vlasjaníca, вре́тище vrétišče

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MLA

"cilice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cilice. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cilice. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cilice

Chicago

"cilice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cilice.

BibTeX

@misc{cilice_2026,
  title = {cilice},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cilice},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}