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Auto-da-fe

2 stages from Portuguese to English.

Today it means the burning of a heretic by the Inquisition; any public burning of condemned things

Where does the word "auto-da-fe" come from? It comes from Portuguese auto da fé, adopted directly into English (1720s).

1
Stage 1 of 2
auto da fé
Portuguese · 1540
"public sentencing of heretics"
Portuguese auto 'act, ceremony' (from Latin actus) plus da fé 'of the faith'; the Portuguese Inquisition, founded in 1536, held its first public auto da fé in Lisbon in 1540, where sentences were read before the condemned were handed to civil authorities for execution
2
Stage 2 of 2
auto-da-fé
English · 1720s
"burning of a heretic"
Voltaire's Candide (1759), set partly in Lisbon, satirises an auto-da-fé staged to prevent further earthquakes after the 1755 disaster
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Auto-da-fe’s story begins in Portuguese: auto da fé meant “public sentencing of heretics.” Portuguese auto 'act, ceremony' (from Latin actus) plus da fé 'of the faith'; the Portuguese Inquisition, founded in 1536, held its first public auto da fé in Lisbon in 1540, where sentences were read before the condemned were handed to civil authorities for execution. It reached English by 1720s as auto-da-fé. Voltaire's Candide (1759), set partly in Lisbon, satirises an auto-da-fé staged to prevent further earthquakes after the 1755 disaster. Today, auto-da-fe means the burning of a heretic by the Inquisition; any public burning of condemned things.