massacre

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See also: massacré

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /ˈmæs.ə.kə(ɹ)/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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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
  2. (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.
  3. (figuratively) Any overwhelming defeat, as in a game or sport.

Synonyms

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  • (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

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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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.

Translations

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French massacre.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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massacre f (plural massacres)

  1. massacre
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Further reading

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French

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Middle French massacre, from the verb massacrer.

Noun

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massacre m (plural massacres)

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

Etymology 2

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Verb

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massacre

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

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle French

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Etymology

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Of disputed origin:

Noun

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massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre

Descendants

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Occitan

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Etymology

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From French massacre.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre
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Portuguese

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from French massacre.[1][2]

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: mas‧sa‧cre

Noun

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massacre m (plural massacres)

  1. massacre
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References

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  1. ^ massacre”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 20032024
  2. ^ massacre”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 20082024

Etymology 2

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Verb

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massacre

  1. inflection of massacrar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative