guillotine

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɪlətiːn/, /ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ (UK); /ˈɡɪləˌtin/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French guillotine,^[2][3][4][5] named after Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738–1814), a French physician.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} As a deputy to the National Assembly in 1789 he proposed that executions be carried out by a beheading machine,^[2][4][5] which he argued was quicker and less painful than the rope or the sword.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The French machine for beheading, with a heavy blade sliding between grooved posts (1793).^[7][3][4][2] Etymonline dates it to 1791.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The machine was designed by Dr Antoine Louis and first used on 25 April 1792;^[2] it was at first called a louisette or louison after him, but Guillotin's name stuck,^[2] and his children later tried in vain to change it.^[2] Similar devices had existed in the Middle Ages.^[5] The name was transferred to cutting machines for paper and metal (1866) and to a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.^[7][6] In British parliamentary use it names the fixing of a time limit on debate of a bill (1850).^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1793 – the French beheading machine.^[7][3][4][2]
• 1794 – verb, to behead by the guillotine.^[7][4][5]
• 1850 – (parliament) a time limit on discussion of a bill.^[7]
• 1866 – a machine for cutting paper or books.^[7]
• 1884 – guillotine shears for cutting metal.^[7]
• 1893 – verb, to cut short discussion of a bill.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device for beheading a person, with a heavy blade dropped between two upright guides.
2. A machine or instrument with a similar cutting action, such as a paper cutter or a surgical instrument for removing the tonsils.
3. (chiefly British) A time limit imposed on the debate of parts of a bill.

Verb

1. To behead with a guillotine.
2. To cut with or as if with a guillotine; to end abruptly.

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press