a Latin word signifying properly a fork, was also used among the ancient Romans to denote an instrument of punishment, composed of two pieces of timber joined together in the form of the letter V inverted. This was placed on the offender's neck, while his hands were fastened to the two ends; and in this way he was compelled to carry about the badge of his disgrace wherever he went. Slaves were frequently punished thus. Sometimes the infliction of the scourge was superadded. The furca was also employed in the ancient mode of capital punishment, when the criminal was fastened to it and scourgéd to death. The patibulum, another instrument used for the same purpose, or as a gibbet, appears to have been in the form of the Greek letter Η.

FURCHÉ, in Heraldry, an epithet of a cross forked at the ends.