Gibbet

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

A Gibbet is a term applied to several different devices used in the capital punishment of criminals and/or the deterrence of potential criminals. A gibbet usually refers to a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. It can also be used as a verb, denoting the action of placing criminals in gibbets. This practice is also called "hanging in chains".

The word gibbet might come from the Frankish gibb, meaning a "forked stick". The verb meaning "to kill by hanging" dates from 1646.