[ad. L. cruentātiōn-em, n. of action f. cruentāre (see prec.); in Tertullian with the sense ‘staining with blood.’] ‘A term applied to the oozing of blood which occurs sometimes when an incision is made into the dead body’; also formerly to the supposed ‘bleeding from the wounds of a dead person in the presence of the murderer’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
