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massacre
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: massacré
English
Alternative forms
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
- 2023 February 14, Holly Yan, “5 years after the Parkland school massacre claimed 17 lives, here’s what has changed (and what hasn’t)”, in CNN:
- The massacre that ripped apart 17 families in Parkland, Florida, five years ago on Valentine’s Day ignited a wave of student-led protests and bipartisan legislation to combat the plague of school shootings devastating the country.
- (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
intentional mass killing
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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, volume (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)
Derived terms
Translations
to kill in considerable numbers
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Anagrams
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Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
massacre f (plural massacres)
Related terms
Further reading
- “massacre”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
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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
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Occitan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
massacre m (plural massacres)
Related terms
Portuguese
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