infibulation
(ɪnˌfɪbjuːˈleɪʃən)
[n. of action f. infibulate v., perh. after F. infibulation (16th c. in Godef.).]
The action of infibulating; spec. the fastening of the sexual organs with a fibula or clasp.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 202 This art of Infibulation, or buttoning up the Prepuce with a Brasse or Silver-button. 1770 Monthly Rev. 531 Infibulation, an operation performed on young boys and singers by the Romans, who used it as a muzzle to human incontinence. 1782 Wesley Wks. (1872) XIII. 454 He will enlarge upon virginity, impotence, castration, infibulation (never heard of before in England). 1798 Malthus Popul. (1806) I. v. 79 The Abbé Raynal speaking..of islanders in general says, ‘It is among these people that we trace the origin of..Anthropophagy, the castration of males, the infibulation of females, late marriages, the consecration of virginity, etc. 1872 W. W. Reade Martyrdom Man 448 Premature unions among children were forbidden, and sometimes prevented by infibulation. |