A knout (, ) is a Russian

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

that consists of a rawhide thong or a rope attached to a long wooden handle. Commonly used for prodding horses or cattle, knouts were also used for

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...

as a

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

in Russian history. The English word is a spelling-pronunciation of a French transliteration of the Russian word кнут (''knut''), which means "whip".

Etymology

The word may be derived from the Swedish ''knutpiska'', a kind of whip with ''knots''. The

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

''knut'' is of generic Germanic origin; compare with the German ''Knute'', Dutch ''knoet'' (both meaning knout) and with Old Norse ''knutr'', Anglo-Saxon ''cnotta'' and English ''knot''.

For corporal punishment

According to ''Brockhaus and Efron'', a typical knout used by Russian executioners consisted of a wooden handle about half '' arshin'' () to which attached was a thick braided rawhide piece, one ''arshin'' () long. The latter piece ended in a metal ring, to which was attached a wide rawhide belt made as long, also of one ''arshin'' length with a stiffened beak-like end. Knouts were used in Russia for flogging as formal

of criminals and political offenders. The victim was tied to a post or on a triangle of wood and stripped, receiving the specified number of strokes on the back. A sentence of 100 or 120 lashes was equivalent to a death sentence. Emperor Nicholas I abolished punishment by knout in 1845, after years of deliberation, and replaced it with the ''pleti'', a lighter whip, commonly with three tails, which was used previously for punishment as well.

References

External links

* {{Wiktionary-inline, knout Whips Whipping

Etymology

For corporal punishment

See also

References

External links