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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:

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmæs.ə.kə(ɹ)/
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: mass‧a‧cre

Noun

massacre (countable and uncountable, plural massacres)

  1. 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.
    St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
    St. Valentine's Day Massacre
    Amritsar Massacre
    • 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.
  2. (obsolete) Murder.
  3. (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

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

massacre (third-person singular simple present massacres, present participle massacring, simple past and past participle massacred)

  1. (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.)
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To win against (an opponent) very decisively.
  3. (transitive, figuratively) To perform (a work, such as a musical piece or a play) very poorly.
  4. (transitive, proscribed) To kill with great force or brutality.
    • 1972, The Godfather (film)
      Look how they massacred my boy.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French massacre.

Pronunciation

Noun

massacre f (plural massacres)

  1. massacre

Further reading

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French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ma.sakʁ/
  • Audio (France (Vosges)):(file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French massacre, from the verb massacrer.

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Catalan: massacre
  • Danish: massakre
  • German: Massaker
  • Norwegian Bokmål: massakre
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: massakre
  • Portuguese: massacre
  • Spanish: masacre

Etymology 2

Verb

massacre

  1. inflection of massacrer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle French

Etymology

Of disputed origin:

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre

Descendants

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Occitan

Etymology

From French massacre.

Pronunciation

Noun

massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre

Portuguese

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