Gr. Antiq. [ad. Gr. κυφωνισμός, punishment by the κύφων, crooked piece of wood, bent yoke of a plow, a sort of pillory, f. κῡφός bent, crooked.] Punishment by the κύφων, a sort of pillory in which slaves or criminals were fastened by the neck (Liddell and Scott).
For notions formerly held about it see quot. 1848.
1727–51. in Chambers, Cycl.
1848. Wharton, Law Lex., Cyphonism … some suppose to have been the smearing of the body with honey, and exposing the person to flies, wasps, etc. But the author of the notes on Hesychius says … that it … signifies that kind of punishment still used by the Chinese, called … the wooden collar, by which the neck of the malefactor is bent or weighed downward.
