Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: mutilus) is severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life.
In the modern era, the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation, referring to alterations that render something inferior, dysfunctional, imperfect, or ugly.
A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or paddling. When it is inflicted on adults, it may be inflicted on prisoners and slaves, and can involve methods such as whipping with a belt or a horsewhip.
Physical punishments for crimes or injuries, including floggings, brandings, and even mutilations, were practised in most civilizations since ancient times. They have increasingly been viewed as inhumane since the development of humanitarianism ideals after the Enlightenment, especially in the Western world. By the late 20th century, corporal punishment was eliminated from the legal systems of most developed countries.
Confessor of the Faith is a title given by some Christian traditions. In Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Christians who professed their faith in times of Christian persecution and therefore had to suffer persecution, exile, torture, mutilation or imprisonment, but not directly undergo martyrdom, are called confessors (Latin: confessores). Later, popes, bishops, abbots, kings and hermits were also counted among the confessors.
With the spread of Christianity and the decrease in persecution of Christians in the 5th century, this designation was also given to those Christians who lived a holy life, such as the English King Edward the Confessor.
Adultery is generally defined as extramarital sex that is or was considered objectionable on social, religious and moral grounds, and which often resulted in legal consequences. Although the sexual activities that can be described as adultery vary, as well as their consequences, the concept is found in many cultures and shares similarities in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Adultery was and continues to be viewed by many societies as offensive to public morals, and as undermining the "marital" relationship.
Historically, many cultures considered adultery a sin and a very serious crime, sometimes subject to severe penalties, usually for the woman and sometimes for the man, with penalties including capital punishment, mutilation, or torture. In most Western countries during the 19th century, most direct criminal penalties have fallen into disfavor. Since the 20th century, criminal laws against adultery have become controversial, with most Western countries repealing adultery laws. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from a fine to caning and even capital punishment.
An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill". Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones. Acid attacks can lead to partial or complete blindness.
The most common types of acid used in these attacks are sulfuric and nitric acid. Hydrochloric acid is sometimes used but is much less damaging. Aqueous solutions of strongly alkaline materials, such as caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) or ammonia, are used as well, particularly in areas where strong acids are controlled substances.
Amputation is the removal of a limb or other body part by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. A special case is that of congenital amputation, a congenital disorder, where fetal limbs have been cut off by constrictive bands. In some countries, judicial amputation is currently used to punish people who commit crimes. Amputation has also been used as a tactic in war and acts of terrorism; it may also occur as a war injury. In some cultures and religions, minor amputations or mutilations are considered a ritual accomplishment. When done by a person, the person executing the amputation is an amputator. The oldest evidence of this practice comes from a skeleton found buried in Liang Tebo cave, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo dating back to at least 31,000 years ago, where it was done when the amputee was a young child. A prosthesis or a bioelectric replantation restores sensation of the amputated limb.
Body horror, or biological horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body or of another creature. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutations, mutilation, zombification, gratuitous violence, disease, or unnatural movements of the body. Body horror was a description originally applied to an emerging subgenre of North American horror films, but has roots in early Gothic literature and has expanded to include other media.
Mutilation was a common method of punishment for criminals in the Byzantine Empire, but it also had a role in the empire's political life. By blinding a rival, one would not only restrict his mobility but also make it almost impossible for him to lead an army into battle, then an important part of taking control of the empire. Castration was also used to eliminate potential opponents. In the Byzantine Empire, for a man to be castrated meant that he was no longer a man—half-dead, "life that was half death". Castration also eliminated any chance of heirs being born to threaten either the emperor's or the emperor's children's place at the throne. Other mutilations were the severing of the nose (rhinotomy), or the amputating of limbs.
An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; the latter may or may not be a bounding mine.
APLs are often designed to injure and maim, not kill, their victims to overwhelm the logistical (mostly medical) support system of enemy forces that encounter them. Some types of APLs can also damage the tracks on armoured vehicles or the tires of wheeled vehicles.