E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Fagot.
A badge worn in mediæval times by those who had recanted their “heretical” opinions. It was designed to show what they merited, but had narrowly escaped. (See FAGOTS.)
1
Il y a fagots et fagots. There are divers sorts of fagots; every alike is not the same. The expression is in Molière’s Le Médecin malgré lui, where Sganarelle wants to show that his fagots are better than those of other persons; “Ay, but those fagots are not so good as my fagots.” (Welsh, ffag, that which unites; Anglo-Saxon, fœgan, to unite.)
2
Sentire les fagots. To be heretical; to smack of the fagots. In allusion to the custom of burning heretics by surrounding them with blazing fagots.
