knout
{{short description|Type of whip}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2020}}
{{corporal punishment}}
A knout {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|aʊ|t}} ({{langx|ru|кнут}}, {{IPA|ru|knut}}) is a Russian whip 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 as a corporal punishment 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 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.{{Cite web |title=knot {{!}} Etymology of knot by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/knot |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}
For corporal punishment
According to Brockhaus and Efron, a typical knout used by Russian executioners consisted of a wooden handle about half arshin ({{convert|35|cm|in|abbr=on}}) to which attached was a thick braided rawhide piece, one arshin ({{convert|70|cm|in|abbr=on}}) 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.{{cite Efron|Кнут, орудие наказания}}
Image:Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, Supplice du knout ordinaire (1766).png]]
Image:Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, Supplice du grand knout (c. 1765).png
Knouts were used in Russia for flogging as formal corporal punishment 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.{{Cite book |last=Lagny |first=Germain de |title=The Knout and the Russians: Or, the Muscovite Empire, the Czar, and his people |date=1854 |publisher=Harper&Brothers |isbn= |series=Russia observed |location=New York |language=}}{{pn|date=February 2025}}
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.{{cite Efron|Плети}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{1911|wstitle=Knout}}