A
scourge (from the Italian
scoriada, ultimately from the Latin
excoriare (to flay) and
corium (skin)), comprises a
whip or lash, especially one used for the infliction of punishment. The typical scourge (in Latin:
flagellum or
flagrum) has several thongs or lashes attached to a single handle, as in the modern "cat-o’-nine-tails". The scourge or
flail[?], and the
crook[?], are the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the hands of
Osiris in ancient Egyptian monuments; these show the unchanging form of the instrument throughout the ages.
Original text from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica