/san'beuh nee"toh/ , n. , pl. sanbenitos . (under the Spanish Inquisition)
1. an ornamented garment worn by a condemned heretic at an auto-da-fé.
2. a penitential garment worn by a confessed heretic, of yellow for the penitent, of black for the impenitent.
[ 1550-60; San Benito Saint Benedict, from its resemblance to the scapular believed to have been introduced by him ]