Bastinading

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Punishing someone by repeatedly striking the soles of their bare feet with a stick or cane
2. A form of corporal punishment in which the bottoms of the feet are beaten with a rod
3. Inflicting pain on the soles of the feet through repeated blows as a method of punishment

Etymology: The word arrived in English from French "bastonnade", which comes from Italian "bastonata", a blow with a "bastone", or stick. The Italian root is the same one behind "baton", so the punishment is, at bottom, simply a beating with a stick, and the French form kept that plain sense before English borrowed it. Its target is the one that makes the punishment so specific. The sole of the foot is tender and richly nerved, so striking it repeatedly with a rod causes severe pain without leaving the lasting marks that a blow to the back would. That is why the practice was historically favoured for prisoners and for those who were not to be permanently injured. The verb "bastinade" is the form that gives us "bastinading", the present participle used for the act itself. The noun and verb share the same root, so the word names both the punishment and the action of inflicting it.

Synonyms: caning, flogging, beating