massacre

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) 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.
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Murder.
3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Any overwhelming defeat, as in a game or sport.

Verb

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. (figuratively, transitive) To win against (an opponent) very decisively.
3. (figuratively, transitive) To perform (a work, such as a musical piece or a play) very poorly.
4. (proscribed, transitive) To kill with great force or brutality.

Synonyms

slaughter

carnage

kill

🔪🩸👤

butchery

murder

killing

bloodbath

butcher

bloodshed

mass murder

extermination

slay

annihilation

destroy

annihilate

wholesale slaughter

assassinate

assassination

kill off

destruction

genocide

electrocute

homicide

mow down

decimate

slaying

holocaust

wholesale killing

battue

beating

blood

🩸

blood bath

bloodletting

bump off

defeat

destroying

devastate

do in

exterminate

extinction

extinguish

foul play

massacring

pogrom

shambles

wipe out

buthering

abate

Translations

massacre

Massaker

massacrer

masacre

massacro

Blutbad

massacre

bloedbad

strage

matanza

🔪🩸👤

katliam

Gemetzel

massakrieren

carneficina

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmæs.ə.kə(ɹ)/

Etymology

Cognate with German: metzeln

Cognate with Old High German: meizan

Cognate with Arabic: مَجْزَرَة

In summary

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”).