massacre
English
Alternative forms
- massacer (archaic)
Etymology
1580, from Middle French massacre, from Old French macacre, marcacre, macecre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), usually thought to be deverbal from Old French macecrer, macecler (“to slaughter”), though the noun seems to be attested somewhat earlier. It is also found in Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”). Further origin disputed:
- From Latin macellum (“butcher shop”).
- From Vulgar Latin *matteuculāre, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattea, mattia, from Latin mateola.
- From Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.
- Note also Arabic مَجْزَرَة (majzara), originally “spot where animals are slaughtered”, now also “massacre”, and in Maghrebi Arabic “slaughterhouse”. Derived from جَزَرَ (jazara, “to cut, slaughter”).
Pronunciation
Noun
massacre (countable and uncountable, plural massacres)
- The killing of a considerable number (usually limited to people) where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and/or contrary to civilized norms.
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
- I'll find a day to massacre them all,
And raze their faction and their family
- (obsolete) Murder.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- The tyrannous and bloody act is done,—
The most arch deed of piteous massacre
That ever yet this land was guilty of.
- (figuratively) Any overwhelming defeat, as in a game or sport.
Synonyms
- (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): butchery, slaughter (in the manner of livestock); decimation (strictly an orderly selection of ⅒ of a group for slaughter; see its entry for other terms concerning other ratios)
Hyponyms
- (mass killing contrary to civilized norms): atrocity; war crime; ethnic cleansing
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
|
Verb
massacre (third-person singular simple present massacres, present participle massacring, simple past and past participle massacred)
- (transitive) To kill in considerable numbers where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to civilized norms. (Often limited to the killing of human beings.)
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- If James should be pleased to massacre them all, as Maximilian had massacred the Theban legion
- (transitive, figuratively) To win against (an opponent) very decisively.
- (transitive, figuratively) To perform (a work, such as a musical piece or a play) very poorly.
- (transitive, proscribed) To kill with great force or brutality.
- 1972, The Godfather (film)
- Look how they massacred my boy.
- 1972, The Godfather (film)
Translations
|
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from French massacre.
Pronunciation
Noun
massacre f (plural massacres)
Related terms
Further reading
- “massacre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle French massacre, from the verb massacrer.
Noun
massacre m (plural massacres)
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
Verb
massacre
- inflection of massacrer:
Further reading
- “massacre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Middle French
Etymology
Of disputed origin:
- Most likely from Old French macecrer, macecler, from Vulgar Latin *matteuculāre, from *matteuca (cf. massue), from Late Latin mattia, *mattea, from Latin mateola.
- From a derivative of Latin macellum (“butcher shop”), although this is less likely.
- From Old French macacre, macecle (“slaughterhouse, butchery”), alternatively from Medieval Latin mazacrium (“massacre, slaughter, killing”, also “the head of a newly killed stag”), from Middle Low German *matskelen (“to massacre”) (compare German metzeln (“massacre”)), frequentative of matsken, matzgen (“to cut, hew”), from Proto-West Germanic *maitan, from Proto-Germanic *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mei- (“small”). Akin to Old High German meizan (“to cut”) among others.
Noun
massacre m (plural massacres)
Descendants
- French: massacre
Occitan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
massacre m (plural massacres)
Related terms
Portuguese
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French massacre.[1][2]
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: mas‧sa‧cre
Noun
massacre m (plural massacres)
Related terms
References
- ^ “massacre”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024
- ^ “massacre”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024
Etymology 2
Verb
massacre
- inflection of massacrar:
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Middle Low German
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English proscribed terms
- en:Death
- en:Murder
- Catalan terms borrowed from French
- Catalan terms derived from French
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns with no feminine ending
- Catalan feminine nouns
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- fr:Murder
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Middle French terms inherited from Late Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Late Latin
- Middle French terms inherited from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Medieval Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Middle Low German
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French masculine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- Occitan terms borrowed from French
- Occitan terms derived from French
- Occitan terms with audio links
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan nouns
- Occitan masculine nouns
- Occitan countable nouns
- Portuguese terms borrowed from French
- Portuguese terms derived from French
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Portuguese non-lemma forms
- Portuguese verb forms