cruentation means the bleeding on the corpse of a murder victim, which was superstitiously believed to occur spontaneously in the presence of the murderer. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
Why “cruentation” is a great word
CRUENTATION — [Noun] The spontaneous post-mortem bleeding of a murder victim's corpse, a phenomenon once superstitiously believed to manifest in the presence of the murderer. From Late Latin cruentātiōnem, accusative of cruentātiō ("staining with blood"), from Latin cruentāre ("to make bloody") + -tiō ("-tion"). Unlike "lividity" (the forensic, gravitational pooling of blood) or "ordeal" (a broad category of judicial tests), cruentation is a specific, spectral accusation. It is the fresh gloss upon a clotted wound in the silent chapel, the sudden dark bloom across the shroud as the suspect is led forward, the collective gasp that transforms a body into a witness—a testament to the desperate longing for guilt to announce itself upon indifferent flesh.
Etymology
From Latin cruentatio (“bleeding”).
noun
- The bleeding on the corpse of a murder victim, which was superstitiously believed to occur spontaneously in the presence of the murderer.