noun
black rope for binding criminals; imprisonment
Archaic term referring to the black rope used to bind criminals in historical contexts, and by extension the state of being bound or imprisoned. Not used in modern Japanese outside of classical literature or historical descriptions.
古文書には、罪人を縲絏に繋ぐ記述がある。
In ancient documents, there are descriptions of binding criminals with the black rope.
「縲絏」は、昔の牢獄での拘束を指す言葉だ。
'Ruisetsu' is a word that refers to being bound in an old prison.
The exact derivation is uncertain; the kanji 縲 and 絏 both relate to binding or ropes, and the compound is a classical Chinese-derived term for a criminal's binding rope.