Meaning & use
auto-da-fé
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablespecialist
A public ceremony in Spain or Portugal where people judged guilty of heresy by the church were sentenced, and sometimes burned.
Grammar: A historical term with the plural autos-da-fé.
Patterns
- an auto-da-fé in somewhere
- be burned at an auto-da-fé
Crowds gathered in the main square to watch the auto-da-fé.
Historians have described the grand auto-da-fé held in Madrid in 1680.
The painting shows prisoners being led to an auto-da-fé.
nouncountablefigurativeliterary
The burning or destruction of something, especially books, as a public act of punishment or condemnation.
Grammar: Used figuratively, usually with a mocking or serious tone.
Patterns
- an auto-da-fé of something
Critics described the burning of the author's novels as a modern auto-da-fé.
The ceremony turned into an auto-da-fé of unpopular ideas.
The student newspaper called the book ban a literary auto-da-fé.
Word forms
| plural | autos-da-fé |
|---|
Common combinations
- a public auto-da-fé
- A public auto-da-fé was announced for the following Sunday.
- the Spanish auto-da-fé
- The Spanish auto-da-fé drew crowds from nearby villages.
- hold an auto-da-fé
- The court decided to hold an auto-da-fé in the cathedral square.
- an auto-da-fé of books
- The regime staged an auto-da-fé of banned books.
- victims of the auto-da-fé
- Victims of the auto-da-fé included scholars and ordinary families.
Synonyms and how they differ
- burning at the stake
- Burning at the stake describes the punishment alone, whereas auto-da-fé names the whole ceremony of judgment.
- inquisition
- Inquisition names the church court itself, while auto-da-fé is the public event where its sentences were announced.
- public execution
- Public execution is a general term, without the religious ceremony that defines an auto-da-fé.
Word family
- inquisition noun
- the church court that held such trials
- inquisitor noun
- an officer of that court
- heresy noun
- a belief that goes against accepted church teaching
- heretic noun
- a person who holds such a belief
Commonly confused: auto-da-fé or autobiography? auto-da-fé or auto-da-fé's plural?
auto-da-fé vs autobiography
An autobiography is a book about your own life; the auto- in auto-da-fé is Portuguese for act and is unrelated to self.
auto-da-fé vs auto-da-fé's plural
The correct English plural is autos-da-fé, not auto-da-fés.
Practice
The painter showed a dramatic ______, the public ceremony in which the church announced its sentences against heretics.
Choose one answer.
Auto-da-fé names the Inquisition's public ceremony of sentencing. A coronation is a ceremony too, but it crowns a ruler and has nothing to do with heresy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “auto-da-fé”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.