different between defacement vs scourge

English

Etymology

deface +? -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??fe?sm?nt/
• Rhymes: -e?sm?nt

Noun

defacement (countable and uncountable, plural defacements)

1. An act of defacing; an instance of visibly marring or disfiguring something.

   Some consider the defacement of the Sphinx to be the most egregious crime of Napolean's campaigns.

2. An act of voiding or devaluing; nullification of the face value.

   The soldiers found a variety of creative uses for their payment scrip after its defacement to scrap paper; some used it as toilet paper.

3. (heraldry, vexillology) A symbol added to a flag or coat of arms to change it or make it different from another.

Usage notes

• Defacement generally has negative valence (that is, it is a bad thing), except in heraldry, where it is a neutral term.

Synonyms

• (act of defacing): disfiguration, graffiti, obliteration, vandalism
• (nullification of face value): cancellation, devaluation

Translations

English

Etymology

From Old French escorgier (“to whip”), from Vulgar Latin excorrigiare, consisting of ex- (“thoroughly”) + corrigia (“thong, whip”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sk??d?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sk?d?/
  • (US, also) IPA^(key): /sk??d?/

• Rhymes: -??(?)d?

Noun

scourge (plural scourges)

1. A source of persistent trouble such as pestilence that causes pain and suffering or widespread destruction.

2. A means to inflict such pain or destruction.
3. A whip, often of leather.

Translations

Verb

scourge (third-person singular simple present scourges, present participle scourging, simple past and past participle scourged)

1. To strike with a scourge; to flog.

Synonyms

• (to whip or scourge): Thesaurus:whip

Translations

See also

• Scourge in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “scourge”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• scrouge