In old English law . A penalty imposed upon a person by way of disgrace or infamy, as a punishment for any offense, or for the purpose of making reparation for any injury done to another, as the walking into church in a white sheet, with a rope about the neck and a torch in the hand, and begging the pardon of God, or the king, or any private individual , for some delinquency . Bouvier. In French law . A species of punishment to which offenders against public decency or morality were anciently condemned.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
