abba

[Heb. אב ) ab ) = father, with suffix ba to represent the definite article.] The E. Aram. (Chal.) and Syr. name for father. . the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."- Rom . viii. 15. *ab-băc-in-ate, v.t. [Ital. ad = to; bacino =a basin.] To destroy the eye-sight by placing a red-hot copper basin close to the eyes. It was chiefly on captive princes, or other persons of influence, that this detestable cruelty was practised. Ducange cites instances of its perpetration among the Italians in med iæval times, the Greeks of the lower empire, and others. He also repeats the story that, early in the twelfth century, Henry I., King of England, thus treated his brother Robert, the deposed Duke of Normandy, but the charge is not supported by contemporary evidence. (Ducange, Lexicon , art. "Abbacinare.")