"Well, it's been an ordeal,"I said to my good friend Oscar.
"A deal?" he said.
"No, an ordeal--you know, a trial by fire. A test of strength and courage. Think Jesus--and the forty days in the desert...."
OK--that's what an ordeal is.
Then I remembered--centuries ago, people suspected of crimes were tried by being put through torture. If they died, well, they were guilty. If they survived, God had interceded, and they were innocent. The whole process was called an ordeal.
The word comes from Early English through the German. Hmmmm--no surprise there!
So a derivation, perhaps, of the word "order" ("from God") to put someone through the guilt test?
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